Office of the Attorney General

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Office of the Attorney General Division of
Victim Services and Criminal Justice Programs
Attorney General Pam Bondi
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Bureau of Advocacy and Grants
ManagementAddress Confidentiality Program
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Program History

• In 1998 the statewide Address Confidentiality
  Program (ACP) was created to be administered by
  the Office of the Attorney General.
• Statutory Authority Chapter 741.401
  741.465Florida 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 97.0585.

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Program Purpose

• The programs purpose is to insure that
  perpetrators of domestic violence and stalking
  cannot use the states public records to locate
  their victims.

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Program Summary

• Two (2) components
• The use of a substitute address.
• Confidentiality of voter registration
  information.

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Program Details
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What the Program Does Do

• Prevents the abuser of a domestic violence or
  stalking victim from obtaining the victims
  address through a public records request.

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The Program Does Not

• Help its participants go underground.
• Hide its participants.
• Keep the participants non public records
  confidential through internet or other types of
  searches

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The Program is Not

• A witness protection program.

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Protected Records Voter As Defined By The ACP
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What is a Protected Records Voter?

• 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. 101.62, F.S., and will vote
  in the same manner as an absentee voter.

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Protected Records VoterWhat the OAG Tells
Participants

• 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.

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Protected Records VoterWhat the OAG Tells
Participants

• 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.
•  

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Protected Records VoterWhat the OAG Tells
Participants

•  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.
•  

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Protected Records VoterWhat the OAG Tells
Participants

• The Participants address is not entered into the
  voter registration data base (direction from the
  Division of Elections).
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• Once all of the paperwork is complete, a copy is
  made for the Participant for his/her records.
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• 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.

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ACP Participant Renewal

• 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.

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Who to call when you need help
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• Office of the Attorney General
• Address Confidentiality Program
• PL-01 The Capitol
• Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]