Even around Tampa Bay, the law has been applied differently. The Hillsborough and Pasco sheriff’s offices and the Tampa Police Department have been redacting all victim information from case records automatically. The St. Petersburg Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office have only invoked Marsy’s Law if a victim specifically requests it. Once cases reach State Attorney’s Offices, it becomes the decision of prosecutors how and what information to keep private. As with police agencies, those decisions have differed from county to county, undermining Florida’s long commitment to open government and creating uneven levels of public access.

The Uniform Law Commission has created a committee to study “Redaction of Personal Information from Public Records,” intended to protect certain public officials and others.

The letter from government transparency organizations raises three main concerns regarding the ULC’s study of redaction of personal information from public records.

Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids said the law “strikes a balance” between state and local governments and the requesters of public records, but it’s also an important check on some corporations that go on data mining expeditions through public records.

To help increase transparency and public awareness of government decision-making, all 50 states have enacted laws that require certain government records to be open to the public. At the same time, some records are exempt from public access and disclosure, such as information related to physical or digital security, sensitive personal information and records that are restricted by federal law.

The bill, SB 196, sponsored by Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would require that requests for public records receive an acknowledgement within six business days. The office would have 16 business days to make a decision to approve, deny or deny in part the request. If denied, the agency would need to provide a reason.

However, law enforcement agencies have often used the exception, sometimes referred to as the dead suspects loophole, to withhold information in cases in which suspects die in police custody or at the hands of police officers. KXAN-TV, an Austin television station, published an extensive series on the practice in 2018.