Florida Statute 39.204 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title V
JUDICIAL BRANCH

Chapter 39
PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO CHILDREN

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F.S. 39.204

39.204 Abrogation of privileged communications in cases involving child abuse, abandonment, or neglect.—The privileged quality of communication between husband and wife and between any professional person and his or her patient or client, and any other privileged communication except that between attorney and client or the privilege provided in s. 90.505, as such communication relates both to the competency of the witness and to the exclusion of confidential communications, shall not apply to any communication involving the perpetrator or alleged perpetrator in any situation involving known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect and shall not constitute grounds for failure to report as required by s. 39.201 regardless of the source of the information requiring the report, failure to cooperate with law enforcement or the department in its activities pursuant to this chapter, or failure to give evidence in any judicial proceeding relating to child abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

History.—ss. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ch. 63-24; s. 941, ch. 71-136; ss. 1, 1A, ch. 71-97; s. 32, ch. 73-334; s. 65, ch. 74-383; s. 1, ch. 75-101; s. 1, ch. 75-185; s. 4, ch. 76-237; s. 1, ch. 77-77; s. 3, ch. 77-429; ss. 1, 2, ch. 78-322; s. 3, ch. 78-326; s. 22, ch. 78-361; s. 1, ch. 78-379; s. 181, ch. 79-164; s. 1, ch. 79-203; s. 2, ch. 85-28; s. 64, ch. 94-164; s. 74, ch. 97-103; s. 34, ch. 98-403; s. 3, ch. 2002-174.

Note.—Former ss. 828.041, 827.07(8); s. 415.512.

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Amendments to 39.204

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 39.204

Total Results: 6

Westerheide v. State

831 So. 2d 93, 2002 WL 31319386

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Oct 17, 2002 | Docket: 1722942

Cited 151 times | Published

psychotherapist and patient in other contexts as well. See § 39.204, Fla. Stat. *103 (2001) (waiving privilege for

Nussbaumer v. State

882 So. 2d 1067, 2004 WL 1905897

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 27, 2004 | Docket: 1289609

Cited 20 times | Published

molestation (pursuant to [section 800.04]), [section 39.204, Florida Statutes (2003)] abrogates the ps

Hill v. State

846 So. 2d 1208, 2003 WL 21294021

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 6, 2003 | Docket: 1301644

Cited 4 times | Published

privilege, section 90.503. The state relies on section 39.204, which it claims completely abrogates the Evidence

Flood v. Stumm

989 So. 2d 1240, 2008 WL 4148980

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 10, 2008 | Docket: 2542994

Cited 2 times | Published

allegations of child sexual abuse against him. Section 39.204, Florida Statutes, provides that privileged

Doherty v. JOHN DOE NO. 22

957 So. 2d 1267, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 7972, 2007 WL 1486106

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 23, 2007 | Docket: 1679170

Published

privilege in this case, Plaintiffs relied upon section 39.204, Florida Statutes, which provides as follows:

SC v. Guardian Ad Litem

845 So. 2d 953, 2003 WL 1970335

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 30, 2003 | Docket: 1432702

Published

issue, nor has the privilege been abrogated by section 39.204, Florida Statutes.[2] No Florida authority