HB 181 Florida House · 2026 Regular Session

Pub. Rec./ Pawnbroker Transactions

Summary

Pub. Rec./ Pawnbroker Transactions; Provides exemption from public records requirements for records relating to pawnbroker transactions that are delivered to FDLE; provides for future legislative review & repeal of exemption; provides statement of public necessity.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Oct 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Oct 15, 2025 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 181 Filed → H 181 c1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten to shift its focus from protecting the privacy of legal assistants and their families to protecting the confidentiality of pawnbroker transaction records. This change ensures that sensitive financial information held by law enforcement regarding pawned items remains private and is only used for official law enforcement purposes.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from covering public defender employees and their families to covering pawnbroker transactions delivered to the Department of Law Enforcement.

SCOPE

The bill now amends Section 539.003 regarding pawnbroker confidentiality instead of Section 119.071 regarding legal assistant privacy.

REQUIREMENT

Records related to pawnbroker transactions delivered to law enforcement are now exempt from public records requests and the state constitution's open meetings clause.

TIMELINE

The new confidentiality exemption is set to expire on October 2, 2031, unless the Legislature votes to renew it.

DEFINITION

The bill includes a public necessity statement explaining that pawnbroker records contain sensitive personal information similar to previous pawnbroker laws.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in Judiciary Committee

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Added to Government Operations Subcommittee agenda

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Committee

Referred to Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

PCS added to Criminal Justice Subcommittee agenda

lower

Oct 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

Oct 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Oct 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to Government Operations Subcommittee

lower

Oct 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors