Effective July 1, Florida’s clerks of courts no longer will be responsible for identifying information as confidential in circuit civil, county civil and small claims court documents filed in their offices.
Filers will be solely responsible for ensuring any confidential information in those types of cases is appropriately redacted or identified for redaction before public release by filing the document Notice of Confidential Information Within Court Filing.
The change is in accordance with an amendment to Judicial Rule of Administration Rule 2.420 ordered Jan. 21 by the state Supreme Court.
The amended rule does not impact Jimmy Ryce civil commitments, cases stemming from sexual assault and medical malpractice filings. Those types of cases will continue to be reviewed by clerk’s offices under the amended rule.
The changes to the rule also have no effect on criminal cases, probate cases, juvenile dependency or juvenile delinquency cases or adoption proceedings, which remain subject to review by clerk’s offices before public release.
To assist with the implementation of the change, the Duval County Clerk of Courts will offer two Zoom sessions for interested parties to ask any questions they may have before the change takes effect:
10 a.m. June 24:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83854267416?pwd=VlF6S0U0R1lMenNBQmdrN0Foa1hjZz09#success
2 p.m. June 29:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83221671131?pwd=aWs3UlBVTVZ5cHpscjRIOUpldDExdz09#success
In 2010, the state Supreme Court adopted amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 and the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure to enact “a procedure that ensures the confidentiality of a narrow set of court records” as a “necessary prerequisite to the Court’s ongoing effort to provide the public with electronic access to court records.”
After those amendments were adopted, however, news media organizations reported delays in their access to nonconfidential court records, in part due to the requirement that the clerks of court independently review all new filings for confidential information, the Jan. 21 amendment states.
In December 2018, the Tampa-based media and trademark law firm Thomas & LoCicero, on behalf of a coalition of news media organizations, published a report summarizing a journalist’s attempts to gain access to new case filings at various clerks’ offices throughout the state.
The report concluded that access to court records, both in person and online, was routinely delayed. It suggested the primary reason for the delays is because the clerks of court are responsible for reviewing and redacting every filing before allowing public access to the documents.