About the Brechner Center
"The Brechner Center is an invaluable, hands-on resource not only for working journalists -- but for future journalists, as well. For my journalism courses at the University of Miami, I copy large sections of Brechner's A Citizen's Guide to Government in the Sunshine for students, and heavily cite the Guide's contents while lecturing on the importance of Florida's Public Records Law."
Ronnie Greene,
Veteran investigative reporter & Urban Affairs Editor, The Miami Herald
Adjunct Professor of Journalism, University of Miami
Open Meetings
1. Are legislators required to publicize future meetings?
2. Where can a public meeting be held?
3.Can the public body holding the meeting restrict attendance, tape recorders or cameras?
4. What should I do if a meeting is improperly closed?
1. Are legislators required to publicize future meetings?
Another constitutional amendment, approved by voters in 1990, requires
legislators to adopt procedural rules ensuring that meetings of
committees, subcommittees and joint-conference committees are open
and the public is notified. The constitutionally required rules
also provide that informal, pre-arranged meetings of three or more
legislators, or meetings involving legislative leaders and the
governor, must be open where formal action is taken or agreed to
be taken later. However, the amendment does not require notice
of these informal meetings.
The public must be notified about public meetings. Notice should
include the meeting’s time, place and the agenda, if available.
The notice should be prominently displayed in the agency’s
offices or meeting area.
•
Example
of a government body’s announcement of a public
meeting to the public
2. Where can a public meeting be held?
The Sunshine Law does not specify where a public meeting may be
held, but it does prohibit facilities that discriminate on the
basis of sex, age, race, creed, color, origin, or economic status,
or which unreasonably restrict public access. Private buildings,
even if open to the public, should be used only as a last resort.
The goal, as always, should be maximum public attendance at the
meeting. Also, boards and commissions generally must meet at
or near their headquarters, or within their jurisdiction.
3. Can the public body holding the meeting restrict attendance,
tape recorders or cameras?
While bodies may institute reasonable rules to ensure orderly
conduct at meetings, they should take reasonable steps to ensure
that the
facility will accommodate the anticipated turnout. Attendance
at the meeting cannot be restricted, and the public body cannot
prohibit
tape recorders or cameras unless they are disruptive.
CASE IN POINT: In 2002, A Florida court found that a school
board violated the sunshine law by not allowing unobtrusive
videotaping
of its public meeting. The court found that the board did
not have unfettered authority to deny videotaping of its otherwise
public
meetings. Pinellas County Sch. Bd. v. Suncam, Inc., CASE
NO.
2D01-4251 , COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, SECOND DISTRICT ,
829 So. 2d 989;
2002 Fla. App.
4. What should I do if a meeting is improperly closed?
If it is known in advance that a meeting will be closed in violation
of the Sunshine Law, the chairperson of the public body or its
attorney should be notified. If time permits, the notice should
be in writing. The written request should inform the public body
of its duties under the Sunshine Law and should ask the public
body to cite the exemption it is relying upon to close the meeting.
The written notice may be sent by certified mail to ensure proof
of receipt by the public body. See A
Citizen’s Guide, page
12, for an example.
5. What if officials continue to refuse to open a meeting
after receiving a formal request to make it open?
A circuit court may issue an injunction to prevent the closed meeting.
Citizens may contact the State Attorney’s office in the appropriate
judicial circuit or a private attorney to request help with securing
an injunction or other legal action.
