Does Florida's public-records exemption for police officers' personal information stop a private company like Intelius from publishing it?

Plain-English summary

The Doral police chief wrote to Intelius, an online data broker, telling it that disclosing information about a law enforcement officer's identity is illegal. The Attorney General's office, which received a copy, gently corrected that understanding.

Assistant Attorney General Joslyn Wilson explained what section 119.071(4)(d) actually does. It exempts from Florida's Public Records Law the home addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, and photographs of active or former law enforcement personnel, plus that information (and places of employment) for their spouses and children, and the names and locations of their children's schools and day care. Two limits matter. First, the statute does not exempt, and does not prohibit an agency from releasing, the officer's name. Second, and most important for the chief's letter, this is an exemption from the disclosure duty in section 119.07(1), which applies to "agencies." It tells public agencies they need not (and generally should not) release that protected personal information; it does not impose a duty on the world at large.

"Agency" is defined in section 119.011(2) to mean units of government and "any other public or private agency, person, partnership, corporation, or business entity acting on behalf of any public agency." So the exemption reaches a private entity only when that entity is acting on behalf of a public agency. A private company like Intelius that is not acting on behalf of a public agency is not bound by the exemption, and the statute does not prohibit it from releasing the information. The chief's premise, that it is simply "illegal" for the private company to disclose, was not correct under the Public Records Law.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2008. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis, and the law enforcement records exemption has been amended over time. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify the current version of section 119.071(4)(d) before relying on any rule mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What personal information of officers is exempt?
A: At the time of the opinion, section 119.071(4)(d) exempted officers' home addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, and photographs, along with similar information for their spouses and children (including children's schools and day care). The officer's name is not on that list.

Q: Does the exemption make it illegal for anyone to publish the information?
A: No. The exemption is from the public-records disclosure duty in section 119.07(1), and that duty falls on "agencies." It tells public agencies they need not release the protected information; it does not, by itself, bar a private party from publishing data it lawfully holds.

Q: When is a private company bound by the exemption?
A: Only when it is acting on behalf of a public agency, which brings it within the definition of "agency" in section 119.011(2). A data broker compiling and selling information on its own behalf is not covered on that basis.

Q: Can an agency that holds an officer's information from another department keep it exempt?
A: Yes, but it must be requested. Under section 119.071(4)(d)8., a custodial agency that is not the officer's employer maintains the exempt status only if the officer or the employing agency submits a written request to keep the exemption.

Background and statutory framework

Florida's Public Records Law (Chapter 119) presumes records held by agencies are open under section 119.07(1). Section 119.071(4)(d) carves out an exemption for the personal and family information of law enforcement and certain other personnel, and section 119.071(4)(d)8. addresses how a custodial agency that is not the employer maintains the exemption on written request. The reach of any Chapter 119 exemption is tied to the definition of "agency" in section 119.011(2), which covers governmental units and private entities "acting on behalf of any public agency." Because the exemption operates on agencies' disclosure obligations rather than as a general prohibition, it does not reach a private company acting only on its own behalf.

Citations

Statutes

• s. 119.07(1), Fla. Stat. (right to inspect and copy public records)
• s. 119.071(4)(d), Fla. Stat. (law enforcement personal-information exemption)
• s. 119.071(4)(d)8., Fla. Stat. (custodial agency maintaining the exemption on request)
• s. 119.011(2), Fla. Stat. (definition of "agency")

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/law-enf-officer-exemption-applies-to-agency-records
• Official print view: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1802

Original opinion text

Chief Ricardo Gomez

City of Doral Police Department

8300 Northwest 53rd Street, Unit 101

Doral, Florida 33166

Dear Chief Gomez:

The Office of Attorney General Bill McCollum has received a copy of your letter to Intelius in which you state that it is illegal to disclose information relating to the identity of a law enforcement officer.

Section 119.071(4)(d), Florida Statutes, provides that the home addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, and photographs of active or former law enforcement personnel and the home addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, photographs, and places of employment of the spouses and children of such personnel; and the names and locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the children of such personnel are exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes. The statute does not prohibit an agency from releasing the name of the law enforcement officer. For agencies that are the custodian of such information, but are not the employer of the officer, the agency shall maintain the exempt status of the personal information only if the officer, or employing agency of the designated employee submits a written request for maintenance of the exemption to the custodial agency. See section 119.071(4)(d)8., Florida Statutes.

Section 119.071(4)(d), Florida Statutes, however, only provides an exemption from the provisions of section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, which provides that "[e]very person who has custody of a public record shall permit the record to be inspected and copied by any person desiring to do so, at any reasonable time, under reasonable conditions, and under supervision by the custodian of the public records." Thus, the exemption is from the disclosure requirements of the state’s Public Records Law and applies only to public records of an agency. "Agency" is defined in section 119.011(2), Florida Statutes, to mean

"any state, county, district, authority, or municipal officer, department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other separate unit of government created or established by law including, for the purposes of this chapter, the Commission on Ethics, the Public Service Commission, and the Office of Public Counsel, and any other public or private agency, person, partnership, corporation, or business entity acting on behalf of any public agency."

Thus, the exemption afforded by section 119.071(4)(d), Florida Statutes, applies only to records held by a public agency or a private entity acting on behalf of a public agency. It does not apply to or preclude a private company from releasing such information unless, as noted above, that company falls within the definition of "Agency" because it is acting on behalf of a public agency.

I hope that the above informal comments may be of assistance. Thank you for contacting the Attorney General's Office.

Sincerely,

Joslyn Wilson

Assistant Attorney General

JW/t