Florida Administrative Code
1 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE
1B - Division of Library and Information Services
Chapter 1B-32 - INDEXING, MANAGEMENT, AND AVAILABILITY OF FINAL ORDERS
Section 1B-32.002 - Minimum Indexing Requirements

(a) All final orders that are required to be indexed or listed shall be sequentially numbered using a two-part number separated by a dash. The number preceding the dash should indicate the year and the number following the dash should indicate the numerical sequence of the order issued for that year beginning with the number "1" each new calendar year. The assigned agency prefix as indicated in paragraph (c) below shall precede the two-part number. The order category may be added as a suffix succeeding the two-part number.

(b) Following the agency designation, two-part number, and order category, the agency may include the discipline and violation involved in the order and other similar information.

(c) The agency shall submit the prefixes indicating agency designations to the Department of State for approval as required in this chapter prior to the adoption of its indexing rule. An agency prefix designation shall represent the name of the agency and shall not be identical for different agencies.

(d) The order category shall be abbreviated as follows:

(e) Examples of numbers assigned to a declaratory statement of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and to a final order in an informal proceeding of the Florida Elections Commission are as follows:

(a) The alphabetical subject matter index shall be hierarchical in format. The headings shall be organized by subject and shall be broad enough to incorporate the subject titles from the Florida Statutes under which the order is rendered. The name of the indexing agency cannot be used for subject headings or titles. The indentations below the subject headings or titles shall be more specific with the final indentation being the most specific. Related key words (specific words, terms or phrases) and common and colloquial words shall be cross-referenced. Order numbers shall be listed sequentially in an indentation immediately below the applicable heading.

(b) The following examples illustrate the above indexing principles:

(c) An agency may use other indexing principles such as the principles of indexing used in the Florida Statutes, as follows:

(d) The agency shall designate the major subject headings to be used in the index. These subject headings shall be referred to by the agency indexer and subsequent similar entries shall be indexed under the existing appropriate heading. The index must be cumulative for at least one year, updated at least every 120 days and made accessible to the public.

(e) If an electronic database is used by an agency, it shall allow users to research and retrieve agency orders by searching the text of the order and descriptive information about the order, which shall contain, at a minimum, major subject headings. To promote consistent, reliable indexing, the indexing system for an electronic database shall have fixed fields to ensure common usage of search terms by anyone that uses the system.

(f) In addition to the indexes required by this chapter, an agency may create additional indexes for final orders as needed.