When does an investigation stop being active?

When it is no longer continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation of securing an arrest or prosecution in the foreseeable future, or when it is no longer directly related to a pending prosecution or direct appeal. Cases barred by the statute of limitations are not active.

Are records that the prosecutor gave to the defense lawyer in discovery public?

Generally yes. Once material is given or required to be given to the person arrested, Florida law removes it from the definition of criminal investigative information. There are narrow exceptions for certain victim and witness identifying information, confessions, and a few court-ordered protections.

What happens to the records after a final conviction?

Once conviction and sentence become final, criminal investigative information is no longer active and loses its exempt status under this exemption. Other exemptions may still apply to specific information.

Can a closed cold case become active again?

Yes. If the agency genuinely reopens the investigation, the records can return to active status and be removed from public view.

What if the agency says everything in the file is exempt?

Demand the written basis for the exemption with the statutory citation, as required by section 119.07(1)(f). Then check whether the records you want fall in the always public categories under section 119.011(3)(c). If the agency is overclaiming, the next steps are AG mediation or a mandamus action.

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Are Records of an Active Criminal Investigation Public in Florida?

Written by Adam Bair.Published April 28, 2026Updated April 28, 2026

After reading this, you will know exactly which parts of an active Florida criminal investigation are exempt, which parts are always public, and what unlocks access at each stage of a case.

The short answer

The exemption is narrow; the access right is broad

Article I, section 24 of the Florida Constitution gives every person the right to inspect or copy any public record. The active criminal investigative information exemption is one of the carve-outs from that right. Florida courts read access broadly and read the exemption narrowly. The agency carries the burden of proving the exemption applies. The Fourth District in Christy v. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, 698 So. 2d 1365 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), put it directly: the exemption is not intended to keep criminal files closed forever.

The two-part test under §119.071(2)(c)1.

Section 119.071(2)(c)1. exempts two categories of records: active criminal investigative information and active criminal intelligence information. Both prongs (active AND criminal-investigative-or-intelligence) must hold. If either prong fails, the exemption does not apply.

Active

Section 119.011(3)(d) defines active. For investigative information, the investigation must be continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation of securing an arrest or prosecution in the foreseeable future. For intelligence information, intelligence gathering must be in progress with a reasonable, good faith belief it will lead to detection of ongoing or anticipated criminal activity. Records also remain active while directly related to a pending prosecution or direct appeal.

Criminal investigative or criminal intelligence

Even if the matter is active, the information itself must fit one of the two statutory categories. Section 119.011(3)(b) defines criminal investigative information. Section 119.011(3)(a) defines criminal intelligence information. Information that does not fit either definition is not exempt under this provision, regardless of how active the matter is.

What criminal investigative information means

Section 119.011(3)(b) defines criminal investigative information as information about an identifiable person or group, compiled by a criminal justice agency in the course of conducting a criminal investigation of a specific act or omission. Examples include investigator narrative reports, witness statements, lab and forensic test results, informant reports, and surveillance.

What criminal intelligence information means

Section 119.011(3)(a) defines criminal intelligence information as information about an identifiable person or group, collected by a criminal justice agency to anticipate, prevent, or monitor possible criminal activity. Gang files and surveillance products focused on prevention rather than a specific charged act are the textbook examples.

What active means in practice

Reasonable, good faith anticipation of arrest or prosecution

The Fourth District in Barfield v. City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department, 639 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), held that the agency must show in each particular case that an arrest or prosecution is reasonably anticipated. There is no fixed time limit on naming suspects or making arrests other than the applicable statute of limitations. Investigations can stay active without immediate anticipation of arrest, so long as they proceed in good faith. Once an investigation has concluded and no charges have been filed, the records cease to be active.

Pending prosecutions and direct appeals

Records remain active while a prosecution or direct appeal is pending. That keeps the criminal-investigative shield over the file during the live phase of the case.

Cases barred by the statute of limitations are not active

Section 119.011(3)(d)2. is explicit: information in cases barred by the statute of limitations is not active. The clock running out also runs out the exemption.

Postconviction proceedings are not pending appeals

The Second District in Tribune Company v. Public Records, 493 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), held that postconviction proceedings are not pending appeals for purposes of this exemption. Once conviction and sentence become final, criminal investigative information loses its active status under this provision. Other exemptions may still apply to specific items.

What is NEVER criminal investigative information (§119.011(3)(c))

Section 119.011(3)(c) lists six categories that are never criminal investigative information. They cannot be withheld under this exemption no matter how active the investigation is. A different exemption could still apply to specific items, but this exemption does not.

The time, date, location, and nature of a reported crime.
The name, sex, age, and address of a person arrested or of the victim of a crime, except as otherwise protected by statute.
The time, date, and location of the incident and of the arrest.
The crime charged.
Documents given or required by law or agency rule to be given to the person arrested.
Informations and indictments, except as provided in section 905.26.

This is the most under-used set of categories in Florida public records practice. Frame a request to call out section 119.011(3)(c) directly and the agency loses room to lump everything as exempt.

What unlocks at each stage

Reported crime: basic incident data is public from day one

From the moment a crime is reported, the section 119.011(3)(c) categories are public. Time, date, location, nature of the report. The investigative file is shielded; the incident-level facts are not.

Arrest: arrest data is public; the underlying file usually still exempt

At arrest, the name, sex, age, and address of the arrested person, the time and location of the arrest, and the crime charged become public. The investigator's narrative, the witness statements, and the lab results stay shielded as long as the matter is active.

Charging and discovery: anything turned over to the defendant is generally no longer exempt

Section 119.011(3)(c)5. excludes from the criminal-investigative-information definition any document given to the person arrested. The Fourth District in Bludworth v. Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc., 476 So. 2d 775 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), held that once material is given to the defendant in discovery, whether the investigation is active becomes irrelevant for that material. Defense receipt is the most common doorway to public release. Narrow carve-outs apply, listed below.

Final disposition: investigation is no longer active

Once the prosecution and any direct appeal end and conviction and sentence become final, the active-investigation exemption no longer applies. Postconviction proceedings do not keep the file active under Tribune Co. v. Public Records.

Cases that reactivate

A cold case that the agency genuinely reopens can return to active status. News-Press Publishing Co. v. McDougall (Fla. 20th Cir. Ct. 1992) recognized that reactivation removes records from public view again. The agency carries the burden of showing the reactivation is real, not pretextual.

When the agency selectively releases something

An agency that issues a press release or otherwise discloses specific information from an active investigation waives the exemption as to that disclosed information. It does not waive exemption for the rest of the file. Selective disclosure does not open the floodgates; it only opens the doors the agency itself has unlocked.

Special carve-outs that survive defense disclosure

A narrow set of materials remain exempt even after defense receipt or final disposition, because separate exemptions cover them:

Identifying information of victims of sexual offenses, child abuse, and certain human trafficking offenses (§119.071(2)(h)).
Identifying information of homicide witnesses, for the statutory period (§119.071(2)(m)).
Mass-violence victim addresses (§119.071(2)(o)).
Confessions, until final disposition (§119.071(2)(e)).
Court-ordered restrictions where pretrial release would defame or endanger a victim or witness AND impair the state's ability to locate or prosecute a codefendant.

Practical request strategy

Frame the request to capture section 119.011(3)(c) directly. A request for "all public records under §119.011(3)(c)1.-6. relating to incident number ____" gives the agency less room to over-claim exemption.
Demand the written basis for any exemption invoked, citing section 119.07(1)(f). Force the agency to name a statute.
Calendar a re-request after charging, after defense discovery, and after final disposition. The same file changes status as the case moves.
If the agency claims an active-investigation shield over reported-crime basics or arrest data, push back. Those categories are never criminal investigative information.
Federal involvement does not reset the analysis. A Florida agency cannot transform records into active criminal investigative information by transferring them to FDLE or a federal agency. The original status of the records under Florida law controls. The Fifth District's decision in Woolling v. Lamar, 764 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000), and Florida AGO 88-25 stand for the point.

If a defendant is reading and considering a public records request rather than going through criminal discovery, note that section 119.07(8) makes a defendant's public records request trigger reciprocal discovery obligations. Defense counsel should weigh that consequence before sending the request through the public records channel.

Frequently asked questions

Are records of an active criminal investigation public in Florida?: Mostly no. Section 119.071(2)(c)1. exempts active criminal investigative information and active criminal intelligence information from disclosure. But the exemption is narrow. Several categories of information, including the time, date, location, and nature of a reported crime, the name and basic identifying information of the person arrested, the crime charged, and any document given to the defendant, are always public.
When does an investigation stop being active?: When it is no longer continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation of securing an arrest or prosecution in the foreseeable future, or when it is no longer directly related to a pending prosecution or direct appeal. Cases barred by the statute of limitations are not active.
Are records that the prosecutor gave to the defense lawyer in discovery public?: Generally yes. Once material is given or required to be given to the person arrested, Florida law removes it from the definition of criminal investigative information. There are narrow exceptions for certain victim and witness identifying information, confessions, and a few court-ordered protections.
Are postconviction proceedings pending appeals that keep records sealed?: No. Florida courts have held postconviction proceedings are not pending appeals for purposes of this exemption.
What happens to the records after a final conviction?: Once conviction and sentence become final, criminal investigative information is no longer active and loses its exempt status under this exemption. Other exemptions may still apply to specific information.
Can a closed cold case become active again?: Yes. If the agency genuinely reopens the investigation, the records can return to active status and be removed from public view.
What if the agency says everything in the file is exempt?: Demand the written basis for the exemption with the statutory citation, as required by section 119.07(1)(f). Then check whether the records you want fall in the always public categories under section 119.011(3)(c). If the agency is overclaiming, the next steps are AG mediation or a mandamus action.

Not legal advice. Educational and informational content only. Reading this site does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice on a specific matter, consult a licensed Florida attorney.