Bill Cotterell, 03/31/2014 – 03:06 PM
The Florida League of Cities warned Monday that a public records package that sped through the Senate last week and is starting to move in House committees could lead to costly legal action against local governments over access to government documents.
The House Governmental Operations Subcommittee approved the bill by Rep. Dave Hood, R-Daytona Beach, providing that citizens do not have to put requests in writing when seeking public documents, except for some inspections which are required by law to leave a paper trail. The bill also clarifies the legal distinction between “exempt” information, which may be released at the discretion of an agency chief, and “confidential and exempt” information, which is legally immune from public disclosure.
The Senate version of the bill (SB 1648), a high priority of Senate President Don Gaetz,…Click here to continue reading.