HCS/HB 774 - This act provides that certain individuals and entities that disseminate information to the public shall not be required to disclose in any administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding the source of any published or unpublished information obtained by the individual or entity. The person or entity seeking the information may move the circuit court in the county where the proceeding is located for an order to require a person claiming the privilege to disclose the information sought. The court, in granting or denying divestiture of the privilege, shall consider the nature of the proceedings, the merits of the claim or defense, the adequacy of any remedy otherwise available, the possibility of establishing by other means that which it is alleged the source or information will tend to prove, the public interest in protecting the confidentiality of the source balanced against the public interest in requiring disclosure, and the relevancy of the source or information to the proceeding.
The court may only grant divestiture of the privilege if it finds that it does not involve any information required to be kept secret under federal or state law, and the disclosure is essential to the protection of the public interest involved in the proceeding. If the court orders divestiture of the privilege, it shall order disclosure of the information, subject to any protective conditions it deems necessary or appropriate. The privilege shall remain in effect during the pendency of any appeal.
This act is similar to SB 1013 (2006), SB 786 (2006), SB 58 (2007), and SB 307 (2007).
ALEXA PEARSON