News from the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Pam

Childers

Clerk’s Legislative Update

There were 1,828 bills introduced in the Florida Legislature in 2023, of which 365 passed both the House and Senate. This article provides an overview of legislation, signed into law by the Governor, which may affect your practice, the courts, and the Clerk.

Senate Bill 376

First up is Senate Bill 376, concerning the confidentiality of criminal justice records. Currently, section 943.0595 of the Florida Statutes provides for the automatic sealing of certain criminal history records held by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As an example, the statute currently provides for the automatic sealing of certain criminal records when the prosecutor or court dismisses a charging document. Senate Bill 376 expands this ‘automatic sealing’ by making related court records confidential and exempt from Florida’s Public Records Laws.

Despite the change to statute, the new law will not yet affect court records held by the Clerk. Clerks, when acting under powers derived from Article V of the Florida Constitution, serve an arm of the judicial branch and subject to oversight and control of the Florida Supreme Court, rather than the legislative branch. Times Pub. Co. v. Ake, 660 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 1995). This separation of powers prevents state statutes from affecting the accessibility of court records, unless those statutes are adopted by the judicial branch. It is now up to the Florida Supreme Court to adopt all, part, or none of the statute into the court rules. If the judicial branch adopts the new confidentiality provision in 943.0595, it will likely be contained within rule 2.420 of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration.

House Bill 977

Next is House Bill 977, providing much needed relief to the Clerk’s court budget. Funding for the Clerk is heavily dependent upon revenues from fines, court costs, service charges, and traffic citations. Clerks must, by statute, assess and collect financial obligations in criminal and civil cases.

State statutes then require disbursement of those collections to Florida’s General Revenue Fund to finance state government. This has contributed to a decade of nearly stagnant budgets for clerks of court statewide. House Bill 977 helps to correct this issue by allowing retention of some revenue locally, rather than transmission of the collections to Florida’s General Revenue Fund.

House Bill 1419

This bill focuses on real property fraud by requiring clerks to create a service by July 1, 2024 where registrants can receive notification when instruments are recorded in the Official Records. This recording activity notification, often referred to as a fraud alert service, provides an early warning to enable an early response to fraudulent recordings in the Official Records. The bill also requires the Clerk to provide a form complaint to quiet title based upon a fraudulent attempted conveyance.

The Clerk currently offers a Property Fraud Alert service to monitor the Official Records in Escambia County for recording activity. To sign up, simply navigate to escambiaclerk.com and type “Property Fraud” into the search box. To round out compliance with the new statute, the Clerk, starting July 1, 2023, will have a form available to initiate a cause of action for quiet title based upon a fraudulent attempted conveyance.

Senate Bill 232

This new law does two things through its amendment of chapters 817 and 825. First, under chapter 817, the law now specifies conditions under which a person commits the crime of exploitation of a person 65 years of age or older. Exploitation of a person 65 years of age or older is a felony. Second, the victim of such crime is now included in the definition of vulnerable adult in chapter 825. This second change expands those who may seek an injunction for protection of vulnerable adult.

To refresh your recollection, in 2018, the Legislature created a new cause of action for an injunction to protect against the exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Similar to injunctions for domestic violence, the clerk has a statutory duty to provide forms, assist the petitioner, and ensure privacy while completing the petition. Senate Bill 232 increases the protections for vulnerable adults by expanding the definition of who may petition for such an injunction.

House Bill 67

Finally, adding needed protection for court staff, this bill makes it a crime to threaten a justice, judicial assistant, clerk of court, court personnel or the family member of any such person. Such an act is a misdemeanor of the first degree if made knowingly and willingly.

In conclusion, this article covers just a few of the new laws passed this legislative session. For a comprehensive list of general and special laws enacted by the Florida Legislature, go to laws.flrules.org.