Final Order Indexing in the Electronic Age: The 2015 Amendment to F.S. §120.53 Finally Fulfills the Purpose of the Original Statute 40 Years Later

In 1974, Florida passed a law that required state agencies to list and index all of their final orders. But many agencies didn’t follow this rule. In 2015, the law was changed to make it easier for people to access these orders online. Now, all state agencies have to use a specific website to list their final orders. F.S. §120.53 was created in 1974 to make agency rules and orders available to the public. However, agencies struggled to comply with this requirement, leading to amendments in 1979, 1991, and 1992 to help them meet the indexing requirements. Despite these changes, agencies continued to struggle with maintaining subject matter indexes. In 2008, the law changed to allow agencies to post their final orders online instead of physically sending them to a state office. A few agencies started using this method, but most didn’t, and the public had trouble finding agency final orders. In 2012, a committee was created to figure out how to make agency final orders easier for the public to access. They surveyed all state agencies to see how they share their final orders and published the results in a newsletter. A survey found that agencies were not organized in how they made final orders available to the public. The old systems were hard to use and not easily accessible. This was because agencies were overworked, didn’t have good technology, and the laws were confusing. A committee suggested that all agencies should use a central website to index their final orders. The law was passed and now agencies have to send their final orders to this website, making it easier for people to find them. In 1974, the Florida legislature wanted to make it easier for people to find out about decisions made by the government. But for over 40 years, it’s been really hard for the average person to find these decisions. In 2015, a new law was passed to fix this. Now, all agency final orders will be kept in one central place where the public can easily access them. This will save money for agencies and make it easier for people to know what their government is doing. The article discusses the Department of Administrative Hearings in Florida and the agencies it works with. It provides information on the number of final orders issued by different agencies and the changes in their use of the Department of Administrative Hearings’ website. It also includes some background information on the agency clerk for the Agency for Health Care Administration. The article ends with a disclaimer that the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the agency or the state.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/final-order-indexing-in-the-electronic-age-the-2015-amendment-to-f-s-120-53-finally-fulfills-the-purpose-of-the-original-statute-40-years-later/