Reports statutorily required; filing, maintenance, retrieval, and provision of copies.

(1) For purposes of this section, the term “state entity” means any agency or officer of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government; the State Board of Education; the Board of Governors of the State University System; the Public Service Commission; or a water management district operating under the authority of chapter 373.

(2) A state entity required or authorized by law to make a regular or periodic report shall fulfill the requirement to submit the report by electronically filing one copy of the report with the Division of Library and Information Services of the Department of State. The report must be retained by the reporting agency or officer, and copies of the report must be provided to interested parties and the statutorily or administratively designated recipients of the report upon request.

(a) A state entity that submits a report pursuant to this section is solely responsible for redacting any portion of the report which is not subject to public inspection. The division or the department, or any contractor thereof, is not responsible for and may not be held liable for the failure of a state entity to redact exempt or confidential and exempt information from its reports.

(b) If a report is redacted, the state entity submitting the report must provide to the division an accompanying statement that identifies the specific statutory basis for the redaction.

(3) The state entity shall retain or archive each report in accordance with the applicable records retention schedule.

(4) With respect to reports statutorily required of state entities, it is the duty of the division to:

(a) By November 1, 2023, with assistance from the state entities, compile a list of statutorily required reports and their submission dates. The division shall update this list by each November 1 thereafter. The division shall publish the list on the Department of State’s publicly accessible website.

(b) Beginning January 1, 2024, compile bibliographic information on each statutorily required report it receives for publication in the system implemented and maintained under subsection (5). The division shall update the bibliographic information on a quarterly basis. The bibliographic information may be included in the bibliographies prepared by the division pursuant to s. 257.05(3).

(c) Beginning April 15, 2024, and each calendar quarter thereafter, distribute the most recently completed quarter’s bibliography created pursuant to paragraph (b) to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(5) The Legislature finds that statutory reporting requirements for state entities is of great value to the public for accountability and transparency in government. A single, modern, Internet-based repository is necessary to compile reports on government activities as well as to ensure that statutorily required reports are easily accessible and available to the public. The ability to search for a statutorily required report by specific information will save time for the requestor and reduce the workload of state entities that are required to respond to requests for reports. Therefore, the Legislature intends that the division receive statutorily required reports, and by January 1, 2024, the division shall implement and maintain a publicly available, Internet-based system that includes, but is not limited to, the following features and functions:

(a) A section or subsection that is dedicated to the cataloging of statutorily required reports;

(b) The ability for state entities to electronically file statutorily required reports and to receive electronic confirmation of those filings;

(c) The ability to search for and retrieve electronic versions of statutorily required reports by using the report’s designated recipient, the state entity that submitted the report, the date of the report’s submission, the law requiring the state entity to submit the report, the title or topic of the report, and identifiable keywords; and

(d) The ability for users to receive automated notifications of the filing of statutorily required reports based on user-defined criteria.