Chapter 2022-218, Laws of Florida, required the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC) and the clerks of court to establish, by or after July 1, 2023, a statewide database of guardian and guardianship information.  The law also directed OPPAGA to analyze data compiled in the statewide database and conduct a comparative analysis of guardianship laws in other states.  This is the first in a series of four reports. 

• The CCOC is in the process of developing a database of statewide guardianship information for judges and clerks and a publicly accessible website. 
• The database must include for each professional guardian registration status, disciplinary history, compliance with qualifications, and the status of required reports. The database must be searchable by the name of the petitioner, ward, guardian, and legal counsel; demographic information of the ward; location of the guardian's office; name of the judge and circuit; and the number of wards served by each guardian. 
• OPPAGA found that CCOC encountered several challenges to creating the database, including lack of standardization across data systems and the absence of processes for capturing required data elements. CCOC has found ways to address many of the challenges and anticipates that the database and the accompanying website will be launched in November of 2024. 
• OPPAGA examined the guardianship laws in other states in three areas related to safeguards against abuse by guardians to see how other states compare to Florida in providing protections for wards.  As many of the state OPPAGA identified do, Florida requires a criminal background check for professional guardians.  Florida is one of nine states that OPPAGA identified that require a financial background check.  Also, Florida is one of only seventeen states OPPAGA identified that require professional guardians to be registered or certified.