No. CS/SB 268
Filed under Local Government.
Public Records/Emergency Department Physicians; Defining the term “emergency department physician”; providing exemptions from public records requirements for the personal identifying and location information of current emergency department physicians and the spouses and certain children of such emergency department physicians; requiring certain agencies that are custodians of the exempt information to maintain the exempt status of such information under certain circumstances; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA new public records exemption shields the home addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates of current emergency department physicians, defined as chapter 458 or 459 physicians working in a licensed hospital ED.
Spouses and children under 26 get the same core protections, plus their places of employment, and the names and locations of schools and day cares the children attend; no photographs are covered for anyone.
Protection at agencies other than the hospital employer only applies if the physician, spouse, or child files a written, notarized request confirming their eligibility for the exemption.
The exemption reaches records an agency already held before its effective date, covers only current physicians rather than former ones, and is set to expire October 2, 2031 absent reenactment.
AIHome addresses, personal telephone numbers, and dates of birth of current emergency department physicians are removed from public disclosure and the constitutional right of access.
AIAn agency holding this information that does not employ the physician must maintain confidentiality only after the physician, spouse, or child submits a written, notarized request made under oath confirming eligibility, and that person must later withdraw the request once no longer eligible.
AIOnly a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 whose duties are performed in a hospital emergency department licensed under chapter 395 qualifies for this exemption; other emergency department staff are not covered by this definition.
AINames, home addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and places of employment of a physician's spouse and children younger than 26 are shielded, along with the names and locations of the children's schools and day cares.
AIThe exemption explicitly covers information an agency held before, on, or after its effective date, so pre-existing records of a current physician's address or phone number are shielded too, not just newly created ones.
AILike other entries in this part of the statute, the exemption automatically sunsets in five years unless the Legislature reviews it and votes to keep it in force.