Florida Sunshine Law

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Contents

State sunshine
State laws
How to ask for records
Transparency headlines
Statutory changes
Notable FOIA requests
State sunshine lawsuits
State court cases
E-mail access
Private agency, public dollars
The WikiFOIA portal

The Florida Sunshine Law is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to the public records of governmental bodies in Florida. The law was first enacted in 1995.

The Florida Open Meetings Law governs the extent to which public meetings are open to the public.

Florida's transparency report card

A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked Florida #16 in the nation with an overall percentage of 57.20%. [1]

A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave Florida 53 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "F", and a ranking of 19 out of the 50 states.[2]

A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked Florida's law as the 19th best in the country, giving it a letter grade of "C-".[3]

Public records

"It is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records shall be open for personal inspection by any person."[4]

Open meetings

"All meetings of any collegial public body of the executive branch of state government or of any collegial public body of a county, municipality, school district, or special district, at which official acts are to be taken or at which public business of such body is to be transacted or discussed, shall be open and noticed to the public".[5]

Who May Request Florida Records?

Any person may request public documents in Florida. "It is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records shall be open for personal inspection by any person." [6]

For requester residency requirements in other states, see the list of who can make public record requests by state.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
  2. ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
  3. ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
  4. ↑ General state policy on public records Chapter 119
  5. ↑ Article 1, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution
  6. ↑ Florida Statutes, 119.01
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