What Is the Florida Sunshine Law?
The purpose of Florida's Sunshine Law is to allow residents open access to government proceedings and public records, keeping them apprised of legislative changes and how the government spends their tax dollars. The Law gives Floridians access to transcripts of many board and government meetings and fosters an open relationship between the government and residents.
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History
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The Florida Supreme Court added the Sunshine Law as an amendment to the state's Constitution. There are two separate statutes that are considered part of the Florida Sunshine Law. The first one is called the Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, and the second is known as the Public Records Law. These were enacted separately in 1967 and 1909, respectively, but were revised and enacted together as a collection in 1995. Grouping these two laws together followed an amendment to the Florida Constitution that reinforced the state's open government policies.
Florida Open Meetings Law
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The Florida Open Meetings Law, Florida Statutes Section 286, sets out exactly how transparent government meetings are to the public, protecting citizens from closed-door decision-making. This applies to all meetings of any state, municipal or political agency, even when there is no public participation allowed. The law requires that the time and place of such meetings be disclosed with reasonable notice to the public. Some types of meetings are exempt from this law, including those involving school personnel records and educational records of individual students.
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Florida Public Records Law
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The Florida Public Records Law gives residents the right to access records made or received in connection with a government body, such as a budget committee or government department. Minutes, or text records, of the events of these meetings fall under the scope of this law and must be made available to the public. The same exceptions to the Open Meetings Law apply to the Public Records Law, i.e., certain educational records are not required to be disclosed to the public.
Considerations
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"Meetings" include any type of discussions between two or more members of a government body that might lead to some form of action, whether they are in a formal setting or not. This includes emails, telephone conversations, social events and public gatherings. The Florida Legislature is the only body of government able to create exceptions to the Sunshine Law, and the Attorney General has made it clear that exemptions must be very narrowly set so that more information is available to the public.
Keeping Up With Current Government Information
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The Florida Attorney General offers several resources for people who need clarification on the Florida Sunshine Law and to residents who want to keep up with the information coming out of public meetings. The My Florida Sunshine website is provided by the Attorney General to help Floridians understand the different aspects of the Sunshine Law. The Council for Education Policy Research and Improvement also offers a breakdown of the Sunshine Law on its website. SunshineReview.org keeps up-to-date information about government meetings for residents to access.
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References
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