Open Records

Florida’s public records law is the Florida Public Records Act, found at Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes. It’s one of the broadest open-government laws in the country – all state, county, and municipal records are open for inspection and copying by any person unless a specific exemption applies.

Who can request records

Anyone may request Florida public records – you don’t have to identify yourself or state a reason for the request. Anonymous requests are valid. An agency may ask for contact information so it can send you the records or a fee estimate, but it cannot condition access on you explaining your purpose.

What’s covered

Chapter 119 applies broadly to state, county, and municipal agencies. Providing access to records by remote electronic means is encouraged where feasible, and if an agency maintains a record electronically, it generally must provide a copy in the format requested, if the agency already maintains it that way.

How to request

Requests go to the specific agency holding the records – many agencies have a designated custodian of records or a dedicated request portal. There’s no state-mandated request form; a request can often be made informally, though some agencies provide their own forms for tracking purposes.

Response timeline

This is where Florida stands apart from many states: Chapter 119 has NO specific numeric deadline for responding to a public records request. Fla. Stat. § 119.07(1)(c) only requires the custodian to acknowledge the request promptly and respond in good faith. Florida courts have held that the only permissible delay is the reasonable time needed to retrieve the record and review/redact any exempt portions – what counts as “reasonable” scales with the size and complexity of the request. A single page a clerk can print on the spot should take minutes; a request spanning years of records across multiple departments can reasonably take much longer. In practice, response times vary enormously by agency – a statewide investigation found completion times ranging from 10 minutes to 140 days depending on the office.

Fees

– Inspecting records in person is generally free. – Copying costs the actual cost of duplication (standard per-page rates for photocopies). – If a request requires “extensive use” of clerical or IT resources – commonly defined as more than 30 minutes of staff time – the agency may charge for that additional labor under Fla. Stat. § 119.07(4). Some agencies voluntarily waive the first 30 minutes. – Florida does not require agencies to waive fees for indigent requesters.

Exemptions

Chapter 119 includes numerous specific exemptions spread across §§ 119.071 and related sections – covering categories like active criminal intelligence and investigative information, certain law enforcement personnel and their families’ information, and other statutorily protected records. “Active” criminal investigative/intelligence information stays exempt only while directly related to a pending prosecution or appeal.

If your request is denied

Florida provides real teeth here: Fla. Stat. § 119.11 gives public records lawsuits priority and an immediate hearing in court, and § 119.12 requires the court to award attorney’s fees to a requester who prevails when an agency unlawfully refused access. Before filing suit, a plaintiff generally must give the agency at least 8 business days’ written notice of the request and their intent to sue if it doesn’t provide the records. Despite this strong statutory framework, Florida doesn’t have a single centralized enforcement body – enforcement runs case-by-case through the courts, and compliance can vary significantly by agency.

A note on terminology

Florida’s law is officially the “Florida Public Records Act” (Chapter 119) – the same basic type of law that other states call a “Freedom of Information Act,” “FOIA Laws” (South Carolina), or “Public Records Laws” (Tennessee).