List of Counties
Florida County & State Access
Issues
2011-2012
published in The Brechner Report
*The following information is based on stories reported in
The Brechner Report each month during 2011*
*Full stories available upon request from The Brechner Center archive*
Alachua
-
Alachua County:
Alachua:
February 2012:The Florida State Attorney's Office found that the Alachua County Commission's long-held informal meetings were not a violation of the state's Sunshine Law. County Attorney Dave Wagner said that the meetings, which date back to the late 1990s, have been held as an opportunity to discuss and build concensus without taking a vote or final action.
February 2012:The University of Florida has been order to comply with a Wildwood-based animal rights activist group's request for records relating to 33 primates mentioned in a federal inspection report. The lawsuit was filed by Camille Marino, founder of Negotiation is Over.
November 2011: The national environmental organization Sierra Club filed suit against the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Services for allegedly violating Florida's Public Records Law by refusing to release records relating to a 2009 study.
August 2011: A circuit judge ruled in favor of a citizen who sued the city of High Springs after she alleged they took too long to hand over a job applicant's polygraph results. Judge Victor Hulslander ruled that the city unlawfully withheld the polygraph results of a police officer for 12 days.
February 2011: A University of Florida graduate has prevailed in his public records lawsuit against his alma mater, with a trial court ruling that he is entitled to copies of recordings of Student Government meetings. Frank Bracco filed suit against UF in August 2009 after being denied access to copies of video and audio recordings of Student Senate meetings.
Baker
Baker County:
Bay
Bay County:
January 2011: Former candidate for city commission John J. Molone is suing the City of Callaway for allegedly violating the Public Records Law. He said he never received a response to his request for a written policy on charges for records requiring extensive resources.
Bradford
Bradford County:
Brevard
Brevard County:
Broward
Broward County:
February 2012:The Florida Ethics Commission found no probable cause to pursue complaints against one current and four former Deerfield Beach officials. Separate complaints were filed against each of the five officials over allegations that they had broken state ethics rules for accepting and not reporting gifts.
December 2011: An audit of the Hallandale Beach Community Redevelopment Agency showed that the city has failed to properly track city land acquisitions, developer agreements and loans to businesses. City officials ordered the audit in August 2010 after suspecting that there were problems with records contained in the files.
December 2011: Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan pledged that he would not speak with journalists unless they register as lobbyists, according to a new code of ethics enacted in Broward County, which requires elected officils to record the names of lobbyists with whom they meet.
Coral Springs:
February 2011:The City of Coral Springs has agreed to pay $90,000 in attorney's fees for two commissioners accused of violating the Open Meetings Law. They were suspended from office but later reinstated after a judge dismissed the charges during trial. City Commission members Tom Powers and Vincent Boccard were charged with misdemeanor counts of violating the Open Meetings Law. The two allegedly secretly met with police union leaders to talk about city business.
Deerfield Beach:
November 2011 : Officials for the Deerfield Beach Housing Authority rescinded a new policy allowing its officials to deny any public records request made using profane or vulgar language. The policy was enacted weeks earlier in response to a request containing derogatory and abusive language.
June 2011 : Deerfield Beach commissioner Sylvia Poitier faces five counts of falsifying public records for failing to properly reveal a financial relationship between her, her brother and a non-profit association that handles low-income housing funds for the city.
Hollywood:
February 2011:A witness in the 1981 murder of 6-year-old Adam Walsh is appealing his public records lawsuit to the 4th District of Appeal. Willis Morgan, who contends he saw Jeffery Dahmer at the Sears store in Hollywood, is seeking a report prepared by retired detective Joe Matthews.
Calhoun
Calhoun County:
Charlotte
Charlotte County:
Citrus
Citrus County:
March 2012:The Inverness County Board of Commissioners settled a pubilc records lawsuit out of court for $1,450. Inverness resident Robert A. Schweickert Jr. originally filed suit against the county, alleging that commissioners violated the state's Sunshine Law when they met individually with an attorney hired to lobby the Legislature to add Port Citrus to Florida's recognized list of ports.
July 2011: A public records request has prompted Citrus County to disable the text messaging feature on county phones. A few months ago, the county implemented text messaging as a way for senior staffers to communicate.
July 2011: Citrus County commissioners are facing a lawsuit by a resident who says the handling of a lobbying contract violated the Open Meetings Law. The suit stems from individual meetings between commissioners and a lobbyist.
Clay
Clay County:
January 2012: According to Clay County School Board's attorney, the flagpole prayers occurring at Clay County schools violate the U.S. Constitution and are a clear case of endorsement of religion and Christianity. A secular rights group sent the district a leter asking for the prayers, which occurred on campus just before school began at 8:15 a.m., to stop.
Collier
Collier County:
October 2011:Collier County Circuit Judge Frederick Hardt ruled that cameras would remin in the courtroom in the trial of a 15-year-old charged with two counts of manslaughter with a firearm, despite concerns of an adverse impact on the defendant's fair trial rights. Alexander Crain, who is being tried as an adult, allegedly mudered his parents, Thomas and Kelly Crain.
July 2011:The use of written ballots by the Collier County School Board to narrow a list of superintendent candidates has raised questions of how the practice fits with the Open Meetings Law.
June 2011:The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Collier County School Board for records related to a 2009 "Kick-a-Jew-Day" incident at a middle school. The ACLU alleges the school board failed to comply with repeated requests for public records related to the incident.
Columbia
Columbia County:
Dade
See: Miami Dade
Desoto
Desoto County:
Dixie
Dixie County:
Duval
Duval County:
Jacksonville:
March 2012: Circuit Judge James H. Daniel ruled that Curits Lee, a Duval County activist, is not entitled to recover the more than $3,000 he spent on legal fees when he sued the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund over public records violations. Daniel ruled, however, that Lee was entitled to $1,245 for other expenses he faced suing the city pension fund.
March 2012: A Jacksonville judge ruled that state shield law protects a newspaper from being forced to hand over an imprisoned woman's letter. The State Attorney's Office supoenaed the leter, written by Bianela Susana, after The Florida Times-Union incorporated various statements from the letter in news articles. Susana is the mother of 12-year-old Christian Fernandez, who was charged with first degree murder in the death of his 2-year-old brother.
January 2012: A U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District in Jacksonville has ruled in favor of a challenge to the Florida Bar's regulations on advertising, making it easier for Florida lawyers to advertise freely. The law firm Harrell and Harrell filed suit in January 2008, claiming that some of Florida's Bar regulations were in violation of the First Amendment.
December 2011: A federal judge has reopened a 32-year-old case, which barred government access to names and incomes of Medicare providers contained in medical records. Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Real Time Medical Data, a medical marketing firm, filed a Motion to Intervene, after the Department of Health denied Dow Jones' request to access a database containing Medicare billing and reimbursement information.
October 2011:The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office removed its handheld scanners from local media and outside law enforcement agencies, citing budget cuts and public safety. Since 2005, media organizations have leased its police scanners, which cost about $4,600, from the Sheriff's Office for $70 a month.
September 2011: A Duval County activist has prevailed in his public records lawsuit against the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund. Curtis Lee, director of the Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, took the fund to court over $3,000 in charges for public records. Circuit Judge James H. Daniel ruled that although the fund didn't act willfully in breaking the Public Records Law, it still attempted to overcharge Lee for accessing its records.
August 2011: The Ethics Commission for the City of Jacksonville has decided to consider developing a policy on texting in hopes of preserving government transparency. City Ethics Officer Carla Miller said that text messages can be problematic if they are also public records.
January 2011: The 1st District Court of Appeals has ordered the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to stop its longstanding practice of opening police shooting review meetings to the public. The Fraternal Order of the Police challenged the openness of the deliberations, citing Florida statues that provide for confidentiality of invesitgations of complaints against officers or when an officer is subject to disciplinary action. The 1st DCA determined that because the officers could be subject to disciplinary action, the confidentiality provision applied.
Escambia
Escambia County:
March 2012:The State Attorney's Office cleared three members of the Escambia Tourist Development Council of violating the Sunshine Law. Allegations that members of the tourism board met privately with a group of Pensecola area hoteliers prompted investigations by the State Attorney's Office, which began in October.
December 2011:The State Attorney's Office opened an investigation to determine whether the Escambia County Tourist Development Council violated Florida's Sunshine Law. Alegations arose after details surfaced regarding the council's plan to restructure the tourism business.
Flagler
Flagler County:
Franklin
Franklin County:
Gadsden
Gadsden County:
Gilchrist
Gilchrist County:
Glades
Glades County:
Gulf
Gulf County:
Hamilton
Hamilton County:
Hardee
Hardee County:
Wauchula:
April 2011:Gov. Rick Scott removed a Wauchula city commissioner from office for violating the Sunshine Law by attending secret meetings. Another four members have resigned.
Hendry
Hamilton County:
Hernando
Hernando County:
Brooksville:
June 2011:Meetings between Hernando County Commissioners and constitutional officers to discuss next year's budget were canceled after the commissioners balked at the idea of conducting an interview in private. The meeting, which was scheduled to take place at an attorney's office, would not technically be a violation of the Sunshine Law, but there could be a problem if the constitutional officers passed one commissioner's comments to another.
Spring Hill:
September 2011: A Spring Hill man filed an emergency petition in circuit court after being asked to fill out a form before receiving public records. Ian Norris asked to see all emails sent and received by the Spring Hill Fire District during most of the month of April 2011.
Highlands
Highlands County:
Hillsborough
Hillsborough County:
Tampa:
June 2011: Hillsborough County commissioners unanimously approved recommendations from a team led by county Tax Collector Doug Belden for more consistent practices in regards to public records requests.
May 2011: A 16-minute video of the shooting deaths of two Tampa police officers was released to the public after attorneys for the media challenged a move to block the footage's release. The video was captured by a dashboard camera in officer David Curtis' cruiser.
Holmes
Holmes County:
Indian River
Indian River County:
Jackson
Mt. Dora:
May 2011: James Homich, a former member of the Mount Dora City Council, faces two non-criminal infractions for allegedly violating the Public Records Law. He is accused of taking an unreasonable amount of time to fulfill a public records request and attempting to charge an unreasonable amount.
Lee
Lee County:
Cape Coral:
February 2012:Cape Coral rescinded its public records policy, restoring the threshold for "extensive" requests to an hour. City Manager Gary King originally amended the policy in October. As a result, the city had been charging fees for public records taking longer than 15 minutes for about one month.
May 2011: A proposal that would have required organizations holding public meetings on property rented from the city to allow anyone to film the meeting won't proceed after a 4-4 vote on the issue. The motion stems from a meeting of a private organization, the Cape Coral Civic Association, which rented property from the city to hold its meetings and would not let a private videographer film the meeting.
Ft. Myers:
July 2011: The Naples Daily News revealed a dearth of records related to workshops of the Edison State College Board of Trustees, causing concern about potential Open Meetings violations.
Leon
Leon County:
Tallahassee:
March 2012: Judge Kenneth L. Williams, of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Tallahassee, ruled that 911 operators can record incoming emergency calls and call-backs to the same number but cannot record outgoing calls to other numbers without consent.
March 2012: The Lake Helen and Sanford city commissions recieved the Pete Weitzel/Friend of the First Amendment Award for passing local laws that ensure people's ability to speak at city meetings. The awards were given by the First Amendment Foundation at a luncheon in January.
March 2012: A database tracking billions of dollars in public spending in Florida on state and local levels is available on FloridaOpenGov.org. Visitors can access payroll data, including salaries and benefits, and state payments to public and private vendors.
February 2012:Gov. Rick Scott named four new officials to his cabinet, including a new public records director. Bonnie Hazelton, former director of the Office of Ombudsman and Public Services, took over as director of Scott's Office of Open Government in January.
February 2012:Legislation introduced in the 2012 legislative session would make it clear that all records, including emails sent and received by newly-elected officials, would be public records, even if the person has not yet been sworn into office. Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Niceville)filed the legislation after email accounts of Gov. Rick Scott and as many as 50 transition officils were erased by a private company providing email service.
February 2012:Florida needs an additional 71 trial court judges and one judge for the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Lakeland, due to an increase in mortgage and civil cases and demands on staff due to a growth in the number of cases filed pro se.
January 2012: A state panel concluded that Florida's massive pension fund did nothing wrong when it hired a company with ties to the fund's executive director. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater asked an advisory panel last month to look into a decision by the state to invest $125 million with a firm that specializes in shaking up or breaking up companies in order to make money for investors.
January 2012: Gov. Rick Scott's job czar defended the state's economic incentive programs, saying Florida would go after companies that failed to perform. He also said he supports quicker release of information about the secret tax incentive deals the state gives some of the largest companies in the world.
December 2011: Records showing the salaries of 52,000 state employees from Florida's 11 public universities have been posted on Florida Gov. Rick Scott's website, floridahasarighttoknow.com. Salaries of state employees are public record; however, faculty leaders questioned Scott's motive for posting the salaries.
December 2011: Legislation recently introduced in both houses of the Florida Legislature would protect the right of Florida citizens to speak at public meetings. The proposed law is a result of a 2010 Florida Supreme Court decision that citizens have a right to be seen but not necessarily to be heard.
November 2011:The Pinellas County Business Technology Services Board said it would make public meeting agendas that had been hidden on the county website for the last eight years accessible beginning with its Oct. 27 meeting. The board, which oversees Pinellas County's multimillion-dollar computer network and digital records, previously had the agendas accessible only by a password given to government workers.
November 2011: A Florida resident has filed a class-action lawsuit in Tallahassee against the Florida Highway Patrol and state traffic agencies, arguing that issuing tickets for headlight flashing violates the First Amendment right to free speech.
November 2011: Florida Gov. Rick Scott awarded $15 million to 16 companies as a way to lure new business into the state. Eight of those companies remain unnamed under a Florida law that allows the names of potential employers to remain confidential for up to one year.
November 2011: Sen. Mike Fasano is pushing to have the Florida State Board Administration subpoenaed because according to a three-page invoice from the agency's officials, it would cost $10,750.13 to produce records relating to its $125 million pension fund investment.
November 2011:Emails to and from Florida Gov. Rick Scott were deleted from his iPad and BlackbBerry. This is a possible violation of the state's Public Records Law.
October 2011: A private Texas company, Rockspace, erased the email accounts of Gov. Rick Scott and as many as 50 transition team employees. Scott ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate in August; however, documents show that Rockspace, which provided email service, may have notified the Scott administration as early as January.
October 2011:A video depicting the death of 18-year-old Eric Perez will not be released due to a new law that bans public access to photos, vidoes, and audio recordings related to deaths. Perez died on July 10 while in custody of the Palm Beach Juvenile Detention Center in West Palm Beach.
October 2011:The Florida Supreme Court has adopted new rules regarding information that can be kept in online court documents. The rules, which take effect Oct. 1, specify that minors can only be idnetified by their initials; only the year of the person's birth can be included; no portion of any Social Security number, bank account, debit card or credit card can be entered unless allowed by another statue or exception; and only the last four digits of a phone number, driver's license number or passport can be included.
September 2011:The City of Tallahassee denied a public records request for individual red-light camera citations, citing resistance from the company that handles the citations. The contractor, Virginia-based ACS State & Local Solutions, will not even give the city the citations without redacting names and addresses.
September 2011: After months of complaints from the media and open government advocates, Gov. Rick Scott has eased his fee policies for public records requests. Scott's policy was to charge the statutory maximum of 15 cents per page for all public records requests. The new policy will include lower charges for the time taken to fulfill requests.
July 2011: Gov. Rick Scott's administration continues to draw criticism from transparency advocates, most recently after Democrats were ordered out of a budget signing and a top Scott staffer admitted to rarely using email to avoid the Public Records Law.
May 2011: Gov. Rick Scott's office will charge the statutory maximum of 15 cents per page for all public records requests.
March 2011: Venice City Manager Issac D. Turner requested the opinion of the Florida Attorney General's Office after the media asked for notes he took in connection with a police chief's resignation. The AGO opinion states that "public employees' notes to themselves which are designed for their own personal use in recollecting certain matters are not public records."
January 2011: Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady has ordered trial judges in the state to keep forclosure hearings open, after media groups and the American Civil Liberties Union wrote a letter to Canady describing closed hearings across the state.
Levy
Levy County:
Liberty
Liberty County:
Manatee
Manatee County:
February 2012:The Manatee County Commission reaffirmed its practice of beginning its meetings with a prayer, despite contensions by a non-profit organization that the practice violates the nation's constitutional principle of separation of church and state and should be halted.
January 2011: Circuit Court Judge Janette Dunnigan ruled in favor of Trailer Estates, a mobile home park, in a Sunshine lawsuit. Trailer Estates residents Mary Lou Smith and Sharon Denson alleged the park's board of trustees violated the Public Records Law by not responding to all requests and the Open Meetings Law by discussing park business outside of public meetings.
Marion
Marion County:
Martin
Martin County:
April 2011: The Martin County Business Development Board spent approximately $288,000 on an open government suit that resulted in the board agreeing to open its records and meetings to the public.
Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade County:
January 2012: Taxpayers, county commissioners and 10,500 workers were not allowed to attend a meeting at which seven board members met privately to discuss a plan by Jackson Health System's executive team to turn around the financially distressed public hospitals. The public hospitals have lost over $400 million over the past three years.
December 2011: A Miami-Dade Circuit judge ordered 33 Department of Child and Families employees to appear before her privately to sign statements swearing they did not leak information about a controversial child custody hearing the The Miami Herald after details about the custocy case, which had been closed, were leaked to the newspaper.
May 2011: Local governments in Florida fared much better in a statewide public records audit this year, with most of them complying with the Public Records Law.
April 2011: After filing a lawsuit for Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado's phone records, The Miami Herald and the mayor reached a settlement that will allow access to records. Regalado has agreed to provide the records, though his personal calls will be redacted.
April 2011: The Miami Herald has sued the Department of Children and Families for records related to an abuse hotline call made just days before twins were found, one dead and the other covered in chemicals, along Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach. In a statement, the DFC said that law enforcement had requested details of the abuse investigation be kept confidential to protect the integrity of the criminal investigation.
Miami Lakes:
July 2011 :Facebook posts by two members of the Miami Lakes City Council have prompted one resident to ask prosecutors to investigate whether the posts violated the Open Meetings Law.
Monroe
Monroe County:
August 2011: A member of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District has pleaded guilty to a non-criminal violation of the Open Meetings Law. Joan Lord-Papy, a five-term commissioner, will pay a $250 fine along with $270 in court costs. The charge stems from an email Lord-Papy sent on April 27 in response to an email from a fellow commission discussing interview dates for district director applicants.
Nassau
Nassau County:
Okaloosa
Okaloosa County:
February 2012:After reviewing more than 5,000 emails, the State Attorney's Office filed subpoenas for additional records held by council members, expanding its investigation into alleged Sunshine Law violations committed by the Crestview City Council.
November 2011: The State Attorney's Office launched an investigation to determine whether the actions of several Crestview City Council members violated Florida's Public Records Law. Several media organizations filed the complaint leading to the investigation after receiving several emails indicating that public officials were discussing city issues outside of properly noticed public meetings.
Okeechobee
Okeechobee County:
Orange
Orange County:
March 2011: The Wall Street Journal's parent company is suing for access to Medicare information that has been kept private for the past 31 years. In 1979, The American Medical Association won a federal lawsuit in Florida banning the release of how much Medicare funds individual doctors receive.
Orlando:
December 2011: A judge has released the names of the 12 jurors and three alternates in the Casey Anthony murder trial after a three-month "cooling off" period, during which the names of the jurors were withheld. Judge Belvin Perry ordered the names to remain private to proect the jurors' safety and well-being.
November 2011:U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell denied a motion to enjoin the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration from publicly releasing videos and photographs depicting the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. Brancheau died in February 2010 after being drowned by Tilikum, the park's largest killer whale.
November 2011: Orlando County Superior Court Judge Belvin Perry Jr. released a grainy jailhouse video depicting 25-year-old Casey Anthony reacting to the news that her daughter's remains were found. The seal, which had been in effect since June 2009, was reversed on grounds that protecting Anthony's rights to a fair trial was no longer and issue.
September 2011: A television station is trying once again to obtain video footage of Casey Anthony captured while reacting to the news that her duaghter's body was found. In 2009, Circuit Judge Stan Strickland ordered that the tape be sealed "until further order of this court."
March 2011: The Orlando Sentinel prevailed in its efforts to obtain the names of witnesses who would testify in the penalty phase of Casey Anthony's murder trial.Judge Belvin Perry rejected the argument that releasing the names would affect Anthony's right to a fair trial.
February 2011: Video and photographs related to the death of a SeaWorld trainer killed after being attacked by a whale will be permanently sealed from the public. The family of Dawn Brancheau, who died during a February 24, 2010 show at the Orlando theme park, sued the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Medical Examiner to prevent them from releasing photos or videos related to the incident.
January 2011: The judge in Casey Anthony's capital murder trial denied her request to keep her jail records from the public. Defense attorneys requested the closure after a South Florida appeals court ruled that personal jail records were not public records. Judge Belvin Perry denied the defense motion by reading from the Florida constitution and stautes, both of which establish a right of access to government information.
:
Osceola
Osceola County:
Palm Beach
Palm Beach County:
January 2012: A Florida court official has filed a class-action lawsuit against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a national mortgage registry firm. Duval County Clerk of Court Jim Fuller claims the firm operates an "unlawful scheme." The company has been the target of ire nationwide due to a scandal and also faces challenges related to its business practices.
January 2012: U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley, for the Southern District of Florida, is asking why records should remain sealed in the case involving the death of a Florida man in the 2001 anthrax attacks. The sealed records include personnel records of Army scientist Bruce Ivins, who is blamed by the FBI for the attacks that killed five people.
January 2011: A local inspector general charged with rooting out corruption in Palm Beach County wants an open government exemption for her work. Sheryl Steckler, who was hired by the county to lead its ethics reform efforts, wants an exemption that would allow her office's work to remain confidential until finalized by presentation to local government. But Jim Rhea of the Florida First Amendment Foundation noted that there was a risk of information never seeing the light of day if it was never formally reported.
Riviera Beach:
May 2011: City council members have decided not to televise the public comment portion of council meetings in which speakers can use three minutes to make general comments. The decision was the result of concern that this portion of the council meetings was being used for city candidates to campaign.
March 2011: Fane Lozman, vocal critic of the City of Riviera Beach, has filed another open government lawsuit against the city. The suit alleges the city council members violated the Open Meetings Law when they met in a closed meeting to discuss whether questions would be placed on the March ballot.
February 2011: The City of Riviera Beach agreed to pay $85,000 in legal fees to activist Fane lozman in an open meetings lawsuit. Lozman sued the city in 2007 for failing to keep written minutes of its agenda review meetings.
Pasco
Pasco County:
November 2011: A new fee schedule, which was unanimously passed by city council officials, will increase the costs of making public record requests in New Port Richey.
August 2011: Brothers Joel and Robert Chandler have filed 30-40 public records lawsuits in recent years, pitting them against medical examiners, police departments and other governments agencies in Florida.
June 2011: A man is suing the city of Zephyrhills over a book Zephyrhills A to Z, claiming the city is overcharging for what he considers a public record.
January 2011: The Pasco County Commission cancelled a private meeting, after the county attorney advised commissioners against the closed meeting. The meeting was to discuss Sheriff Bob White's budget appeal to the Florida governor and cabinet.
Pinellas
Pinellas County:
December 2011:Four members of the Pinellas County Commission have been accused of repeatedly violating Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law for meeting one-on-one with city staffers.
October 2011:Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch "unfriended" several colleagues on Facebook after County Attorney Jim Bennett warned against using social media sites to communicate about public policy.
October 2011:Pinellas County school superintendant Julie Janssen was fired following an ethics complaint that accuses Janssen and members of her staff of ignoring legal advice and "deliberately" withholding public records. Janssen and her attorney said she did nothing to violate
September 2011: The Knight FOI Fund will assist a resident in filing an Open Meetings suit against St. Pete Beach city commissioners for allegedly meeting in private.
September 2011: Against the advice of the city attorney, Dunedin commissioners scrapped a plan to permanently shut down a terminal that provided access to city emails and instead require formal requests.
June 2011: A circuit judge has declined to force Darrell Irions, the former director of the Pinellas County Housing Authority, to turn over his personal hard drives, after he allegedly forwarded public emails to his private email address and deleted the emails form the government server. He was initially given 20 days to turn over his hard drives and the user name and password for his Yahoo email account or explain why he should not have to.
May 2011: At least two lawsuits against the City of St. Pete Beach allege that the city commission violated the Sunshine Law during meetings with its attorneys. In the first suit, resident Bruce Kadoura sued the city, claiming that a settlement offer was rejected and a counter offer made during a private meeting. A separate lawsuit focuses on subsequent meetings not included in the Kandoura case. The city maintains that it did not violate the Sunshine Law.
March 2011: A circuit judge has ordered Kenneth City and its red-light camera company to hand over names of violators to the St. Petersburg Times. Judge Anthony Rondolino noted that the Drivers Privacy Protection Act specifically exempts information about violations.
February 2011: The St. Petersburg Times has filed a suit against the town of Kenneth City and its red light camera company, seeking access to names of people suspected of running red lights. American Traffic Soultions Inc. maintains that it would not release the information for fear of violating the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act. Anne Arsenault, attorney for the Times, said that federal privacy law does not apply to lawbreakers and that the names are public under Florida's Public Records Law.
St. Petersburg:
April 2011: A circuit judge has ordered the leader of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority to hand over his personal computer hard drives in connection with a public records dispute. Darrell Irions, chief executive officer of the city housing authority and former head of the Pinellas County Housing Authority, was given 20 days to turn over his hard drives and the user name and password for his Yahoo e-mail account.
Polk
Polk County:
October 2011:Lake Wales Housing Authority official Booker T. Young Jr., 81, was charged with violating the state's Sunshine Law when he and two other board members walked outside during a housing authority meeting. Young, who pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges, had invited board members outside to look at cracks in the asphalt allegedly caused by garbage trucks.
August 2011: A judge dismissed an Open Meetings suit against Haines City Commission. The suit, filed by two local business owners, stemmed from a meeting where the Commission voted to give departing city manager Ann Toney-Deak severance pay of $312,430. Circuit Judge Michael Raiden found that the Opens Meeting Law did not require the Commission to only act on matters placed on the agenda and that the public had no right to speak at the meeting.
Lakeland:
May 2011: Two members of a search committee in charge of vetting candidates for the chief academic officer posiiton at the University of South Florida Polytechnic were removed from the group for possibly violating the Sunshine Law. The allegation stems from a Nov. 30 email from Richard Plank, director of USF Polytechnic's division of innovation, to William Armitage, director of the information technology division, in which the strength of the candidates and the reference checking process were discussed.
Putnam
Putnam County:
Santa Rosa
December 2011: According to a policy adopted by the Santa Rosa County Commission during its Sept. 22 meeting, the first person or organization to request records related to a wide-ranging grand jury investigation will pay $11,658,90.
Orange County:
Sarasota
Sarasota County:
March 2012:The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has denied a public records request for a video depicting the shooting and killing of a Port Charlotte man, citing a Florida law that prohibits such recordings from being released. The law was passed in June and signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott in July.
July 2011: The North Port City Commission has voted to order staffers to revise the city's public records policy. The revision was prompted by a Sarasota Herald-Tribune request for two weeks of the city attorney's emails.
Sarasota:
February 2011: Citizens groups who sued Sarasota County for allegedly violating open government laws while negotiating a multi-million dollar spring training deal have been ordered to pay $20,000 in litigation costs after losing the suit. Citizens for Responsible Government and Citizens for Sunshine appealed their case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, and while some violations were acknowledged, the county prevailed in the case.
Seminole
Seminole County:
St. Johns
St. Johns County:
St. Lucie
St. Lucie County:
Fort Pierce:
April 2011: The City of Fort Pierce will change its public records policy after one man's request for salary information was met with a $3,000 bill. Assistant State Attorney Ryan Butler investigated the case and found that the city unintentionally violated the Public Records Law. He declined to pursue any fines against city officials.
Sumter
Sumter County:
Volusia
Volusia County:
March 2012: Deltona's city atorney drafted an ordinance that would require local businesses to obtain permits to hire sign spinners and restrict the activity to no more than 10 days in a calendar year. This was done in response to complaints made by Deltona city commissioners.
November 2011: Board members for the Southeast Volusia County Hospital District declined to pass a motion to record the board's proceedings for the second time, citing the cost of maintaining public access to the recordings.
Daytona Beach:
April 2011: A circuit judge has overturned an $80 million hospital merger due to Sunshine violations and an inadequate attempt to cure 21 closed-door meetings.The hospital board had planned to merge publicly owned Bert Fish Medical Center with the private Adventist Health System.
March 2011: The State Attorney's Office will not pursue charges against hospital board members who held 21 meetings improperly closed to the public. The five-month invesigation by State Attorney R.J. Larizza resulted in a finding that Bert Fish Medical Center board members unintentionally violated the law.
Wakulla
Wakulla County:
Walton
Walton County:
State Issues
