SESSION WATCH
Died SENATE · SESSION 2026

No. SB 1162

Public Records/Office of the Corrections Ombudsman and the Corrections Oversight Committee
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SPONSOR
Rodriguez
FILED BY
Ana Maria Rodriguez — District 40, Republican [search donations]
EFFECTIVE
On the same date that SB 1160 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes a law
DIED IN
Criminal Justice

Filed under Local Government.

PROVIDED SUMMARY

Public Records/Office of the Corrections Ombudsman and the Corrections Oversight Committee; Providing a public records exemption for correspondence and communications with the Office of the Corrections Ombudsman and the Corrections Oversight Committee; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Full bill text →

Plain English Summary

AI-GENERATED
Shields communications with the corrections ombudsman from public disclosure.

Correspondence and communications between incarcerated persons or members of the public and the Office of the Corrections Ombudsman, the Ombudsman, committee members, or office staff become confidential and exempt from the constitutional right of access to public records.

The Legislature grounds this in inmate safety: without confidentiality, incarcerated people and outside advocates might fear retaliation from correctional officers under investigation because of what they reported to the office.

Unlike every other exemption in this same batch, this one names only the state constitution's right-of-access provision -- it never cites the public records statute itself, and it includes no sunset-review repeal date.

KEY PROVISIONS
§ 1 Makes ombudsman correspondence confidential and exempt majors. 11.92(8)

AICorrespondence and communications between incarcerated persons or members of the public and the Office of the Corrections Ombudsman, the Ombudsman, oversight committee members, or office staff become confidential and exempt from the constitutional right of public-records access.

“are confidential and exempt from s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution” bill text, line 18 →
TIMELINE
3/13/2026
Died in Criminal Justice
1/13/2026
Introduced
1/12/2026
Referred to Criminal Justice; Appropriations Committee on Criminal...
1/6/2026
Filed
STATUTES IT CHANGES
s. 11.92
+36 / −0
s. 11.92
+0 / −0