Transparency is important. Florida has strict disclosure laws relating to Public Records – Citizens have the right to access. The burden is on the government to demonstrate any exception.

This is a set up; the first in a series. Transparency is important. In Florida, providing access to public records is the law. With a few exceptions, the records of state and local agencies are subject to the Florida Public Records Act. It does not matter if you are seeking records from your local municipal government or records in the Governor's office. Any/all must give access to public records for inspection as well as for copying. Your request may be made verbally or in writing. And any request may also be anonymous! 

This is the law of the State of Florida. Palmetto Bay does not make the law, but it is Palmetto Bay's responsibility to follow the law. 

When I was mayor, three terms, our Village attorneys always provided a primer of the public records and Sunshine law for each and every incoming council. Transparency and access to records is important, so important that it is the law! (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes):

119.01 General state policy on public records.—

(1) It is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person. Providing access to public records is a duty of each agency.

It is clear that it is time for the current mayor and council to undergo training in both the public records and Sunshine laws. More will be posted on this situation in subsequent posts.

For now, here is a great presentation:

Florida Department of Health - Public Records and Government in the Sunshine
Learner Course Guide, FY 2014-2015

The basics:

• The public records act is construed in favor of openness while exemptions are construed narrowly and limited.
• Any person may request a public record.
• A person does not need to provide a reason for requesting records, they don’t need to explain their purpose, they don’t need to give a justification.
• The agency cannot require a person requesting records to explain why they want them.
• If it is unclear whether something is a public record or falls within a specific exemption of the public records laws, there is a higher likelihood that the record will be public than not.
• If a person seeks disclosure of agency records, the burden is on the agency to show that a record is exempt from disclosure.
• The agency must cite the specific statute or law that requires the record to be withheld from disclosure.
• Attorney’s fees are usually awardable to the person who is forced to go to court to compel that government agency to disclose the requested records.

More will follow, explaining the need for this primer on the Florida Public Records Law.