1 O FFICE OF THE A TTORNEY G ENERAL D IVISION OF V ICTIM S ERVICES AND C RIMINAL J USTICE P ROGRAMS Attorney General Pam Bondi

B UREAU OF A DVOCACY AND G RANTS M ANAGEMENT A DDRESS C ONFIDENTIALITY P ROGRAM 2 01/11

P ROGRAM H ISTORY In 1998 the statewide Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) was created to be administered by the Office of the Attorney General. Statutory Authority: Chapter – Florida Statutes; gives authority to the Office of the Attorney General for the existence of the program. In 2010, victims of stalking were added to the program per Florida Statute

P ROGRAM P URPOSE The program’s purpose is to insure that perpetrators of domestic violence and stalking cannot use the state’s public records to locate their victims. 4

P ROGRAM S UMMARY Two (2) components: 1. The use of a substitute address. 2. Confidentiality of voter registration information. 5

P ROGRAM D ETAILS 6

W HAT THE P ROGRAM D OES D O Prevents the abuser of a domestic violence or stalking victim from obtaining the victim’s address through a public records request. 7

Help its participants “go underground.” Hide its participants. Keep the participant’s non public records confidential through internet or other types of searches T HE P ROGRAM D OES N OT 8

T HE P ROGRAM IS N OT A witness protection program. 9

P ROTECTED R ECORDS V OTER A S D EFINED B Y T HE ACP 10

W HAT IS A P ROTECTED R ECORDS V OTER ? A Protected Records Voter, (as defined by Chapter 2A-7, Florida Administrative Code), means a program participant who is registered and qualified to vote and has requested an absentee ballot pursuant to s , F.S., and will vote in the same manner as an absentee voter. 11

P ROTECTED R ECORDS V OTER : W HAT THE OAG T ELLS P ARTICIPANTS A Participant may apply to register to vote while in the ACP program. If a Participant chooses to apply to register to vote, then he or she can only vote via an absentee ballet. 12

P ROTECTED R ECORDS V OTER : W HAT THE OAG T ELLS P ARTICIPANTS The Participant must go to the supervisor of elections office to register to vote. The Participant must present his/her ACP card. The Participant should have an Acknowledgement of Understanding form that is provided by the OAG. The Participant will sign the form which becomes part of the voter registration paperwork. 13

P ROTECTED R ECORDS V OTER : W HAT THE OAG T ELLS P ARTICIPANTS If the Participant is currently registered to vote in another Florida county jurisdiction, the county of registration must be changed. If the Participant is registered in the statewide voter registration system, the registration record must be removed from the system and processed manually. The Participant must provide his/her actual residential address to guarantee that he/she receives the correct ballot for future elections. The Participant is instructed that he/she will only be able to vote via an absentee ballot. This ballot will be sent to the ACP Post Office address and then forwarded to the Participant. 14

P ROTECTED R ECORDS V OTER : W HAT THE OAG T ELLS P ARTICIPANTS The Participant’s address is not entered into the voter registration data base (direction from the Division of Elections). Once all of the paperwork is complete, a copy is made for the Participant for his/her records. All paperwork should be sent to the Division of Elections. The Division will then forward the Acknowledgement of Understanding form to the Office of the Attorney General which will alert staff that the Participant has registered as a Protected Records Voter. 15

ACP P ARTICIPANT R ENEWAL An ACP Participant must renew his or her certification with the OAG every 4 years. The process for renewal is the same as the process for initial certification. 16

W HO TO CALL WHEN YOU NEED HELP 17

Office of the Attorney General Address Confidentiality Program PL-01 The Capitol Tallahassee, FL Phone (850) Fax (850)