HB 437 Florida House · 2026 Regular Session

Public Records

Summary

Public Records; Provides that it is a violation of specified provisions to fail to acknowledge public records request promptly & respond to such request in good faith; revises various provisions relating to custodians of public records, agencies, fees, & penalties; requires written, detailed cost estimate be provided upon request to persons seeking to inspect or copy public record; requires courts to assess specified costs, fees, & penalties.

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Nov 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Nov 17, 2025 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 437 Filed → H 437 c1 · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill text was updated from a filed version to a committee-submitted version, primarily involving formatting adjustments to the header and page numbering. The substantive policy content, including the definitions of costs and the rules for public records access, remains unchanged in this specific diff.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was updated from 'HB 437' to 'CS/HB 437' to indicate it is a committee-submitted version, and page counts were adjusted from 28 to 26.

Floor votes · House Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

112–0

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 118

Mar 4, 2026

D Democratic34

31 Yea 3

91% Yea

R Republican84

81 Yea 3

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 4, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

CS passed; YEAS 111, NAYS 0

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of State Affairs Committee

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable by State Affairs Committee

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Added to State Affairs Committee agenda

lower

Feb 16, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in State Affairs Committee

lower

Feb 16, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Justice Budget Subcommittee

lower

Feb 16, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Justice Budget Subcommittee

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Added to Justice Budget Subcommittee agenda

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in Justice Budget Subcommittee

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Judiciary Committee

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Judiciary Committee

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Added to Judiciary Committee agenda

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in Judiciary Committee

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Referred to State Affairs Committee

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Referred to Justice Budget Subcommittee

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Jan 16, 2026

Lower · Passed

Added to Government Operations Subcommittee agenda

lower

Nov 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Nov 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to State Affairs Committee

lower

Nov 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Justice Budget Subcommittee

lower

Nov 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Nov 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors