In re Amendments to Fla. Rule of Jud. Admin. 2.420

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida amended Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 to require clerks to automatically maintain presentence investigation reports and attached psychological or psychiatric evaluations as confidential. The court declined to extend automatic confidentiality to other mental health evaluations filed in criminal cases, leaving those records subject to the rule's case-by-case confidentiality procedures.

Holdings

1. Rule 2.420(d)(1)(B) must be amended to add presentence investigation reports and psychological or psychiatric evaluations attached to those reports to the records that the clerk must automatically designate and maintain as confidential.
2. Psychological or mental-health evaluations filed with the court but not included in Rule 2.420(d)(1)(B) are not automatically confidential; a party seeking confidentiality must use the case-by-case procedures in Rule 2.420(d)(3).
3. The court declined to suspend Rule 2.420(d) in criminal cases and declined to authorize clerks to continue sealing criminal-case mental-health evaluations under local administrative orders pending a judicial determination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Rule 2.420(d)(1)(B) should be amended to require clerks to automatically maintain presentence investigation reports and attached psychological or psychiatric evaluations as confidential.
2. Whether all psychological and psychiatric evaluations and reports filed in criminal cases should be included in the category of records automatically maintained as confidential.
3. Whether application of Rule 2.420(d) should be suspended in criminal cases or clerks should be permitted to continue sealing mental-health evaluations under local administrative orders pending further legislative action.

Disposition

other