Florida Marsy's Law
What it does, who it protects, and how to invoke it. Plain English.
Who it protects
Crime victims and their families. Florida courts have in some cases extended these protections to law enforcement officers acting as crime victims, but that application is contested and depends on the agency and the court.
What it does
Constitutional amendment (Florida Constitution Article I, §16) establishing crime victims' rights, including the right to prevent the disclosure of information that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim's family.
How to invoke it
Invocation typically goes through the prosecuting attorney's office or victim's counsel. For officers asserting Marsy's Law protections in incident reports, the request usually goes through the agency's records custodian or legal department.
Enforcement reality
Whether Marsy's Law shields officers as victims has been litigated extensively. In City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Association (SC2021-0651, November 30, 2023), the Florida Supreme Court held that Marsy's Law does not give any crime victim, including an officer, a categorical right to withhold their name. A separate 2026 statute (Chapter 2026-32, effective July 1, 2026) shields the identity of an officer who is the victim of an assault or threat for 72 hours and exempts it from public-records release for 60 days.
What Marsy's Law does
Florida voters passed Marsy's Law in 2018 as a constitutional amendment (Article I, §16). It expanded crime victims' rights, including the right to be told about proceedings, the right to confer with prosecutors, and the right to prevent the release of information that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim's family. That last right is the one that matters for privacy.
For most crime victims, it works as you would expect. The victim can ask that their name and identifying details be withheld from public release. The prosecutor's office and the agency holding the record are required to honor the request.
When agencies used it for officers
Soon after it passed, Florida agencies began invoking Marsy's Law for officers involved in use-of-force incidents. The argument was that an officer assaulted during an incident is a crime victim, so the officer's name should be redacted from the report.
That theory drew heavy litigation. On November 30, 2023, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Association (SC2021-0651) that Marsy's Law does not give an officer, or any crime victim, a categorical right to withhold their name. The court found that name-withholding is not listed in Article I, §16(b), and that reading it in would conflict with the accused's right to confront witnesses and the public's right to records. The court did not decide whether officers can be Marsy's Law victims at all. It ruled only on the name question.
After that ruling, Marsy's Law stopped working as a default name shield for officers. Agencies that had redacted officer names by default could no longer rely on it to do so.
The 2026 statute
In 2026 the Florida Legislature passed a statute to address the same problem through ordinary law rather than the constitutional amendment. CS/HB 1113 (Chapter 2026-32) was signed on April 15, 2026, and took effect July 1, 2026. It keeps the identity of an officer who is the victim of an assault or threat confidential for 72 hours after the incident, and exempt from public-records release for 60 days. The statute was written to apply when an officer is a genuine victim on the job, not automatically in every use-of-force case. How courts and agencies draw that line is still developing, so confirm current practice with your agency's records custodian.
What it doesn't reach
Marsy's Law and the 2026 statute both sit in the criminal-proceedings context. Neither one reaches:
- Data brokers and people-search sites. Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and similar sites hold addresses pulled from public records, often gathered long before any Marsy's Law request.
- Property records, voter rolls, and court files outside the criminal context. Civil suits, divorce, and traffic court are not covered.
- Federal records, which are governed by federal law.
What we do
Marsy's Law is a courtroom tool. It does nothing about your home address sitting on a data broker site. That is the part we handle. We find your personal information on the major broker and people-search sites, file opt-outs, and keep checking so we can refile when it comes back.
For Florida first responders, the practical privacy stack is:
- F.S. §119.071(4)(d): exempts your home address, phone number, and similar details from public release. This is the main tool. At your own employing agency the exemption is automatic. You do not have to file anything to get it. At any other agency that holds the same information (property appraiser, tax collector, DMV), the exemption holds only if you submit a written, notarized request to that custodian. The agency confidentiality election template covers that written request.
- County property appraiser redaction: a separate request to hide your home address from property tax records.
- Marsy's Law and the 2026 statute: situational, for specific incident-related contexts.
- Address Confidentiality Program: a substitute-address program for survivors of qualifying offenses.
Marsy's Law is not the everyday tool for officers. Section 119.071 is.