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Sunshine Law

Elected Officials’ Personal Phone Numbers and Home Addresses Are Now Secret

June 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Government in the Sunshine by Bill Day, FloridaPolitics.com

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill that creates a public-records exemption to prevent the release of home addresses and telephone numbers of legislators, members of Congress and numerous other elected officials.

Commissioners Punt on Appointing Sean Moylan Interim County Attorney in Motion That Possibly Violates Sunshine

June 17, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Assistant County Attorney Sean Moylan, left, and County Attorney Al Hadeed. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission on Monday voted 4-1 to delay considering appointing Assistant County Attorney Sean Moylan the interim county attorney, and required each of its members to submit three candidates’ names to the administration’s human resources department by July 14 for consideration for the position. The motion was vague, leaving it to HR possibly to rank the candidates outside of a meeting. That would be a violation of the sunshine law.

Florida Was Set to Shield Lawmakers’ Home Addresses Before Minnesota Assassination

June 16, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

florida legislature immigration follies

Florida lawmakers in April overwhelmingly passed a bill (SB 268) to create a public-records exemption that would prevent the release of home addresses and telephone numbers of legislators and members of Congress. Also, the exemption would apply to the governor, lieutenant governor, state Cabinet members, county commissioners, property appraisers, elections supervisors, school superintendents, school board members, mayors and city commissioners.

Pasco Sheriff Ordered to Pay Legal Fees After Suppressing Public Records

May 21, 2025 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The Pasco Sheriff's Office was overruled by an appeals court. (Facebook)

A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal sided with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Florida, which filed a lawsuit in September 2022 seeking to force the sheriff’s office to provide records related to what was known as the “Intelligence Led Policing” program. The program included analyzing various types of information and compiling lists of “problem people” and “at-risk youths” who would get increased law-enforcement attention, according to Wednesday’s ruling.

How ‘Doge’ Is Eliminating Government Accountability

April 17, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

government accountability FOIA layoffs

Mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services are continuing as the agency makes good on its intention, announced on March 27, 2025, to shrink its workforce by 20,000 people. Among workers dismissed in early April were several teams responsible for fulfilling requests for access to previously unreleased government data, information and records under a federal law known as the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA.

The Sun Is Setting on Government Transparency in Florida

March 16, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

florida sunshine law decline

Florida, the “Sunshine State,” once known as a beacon of government transparency, is growing ever darker, and the clouds are spreading throughout the United States. Legislators have passed more than 1,100 exemptions to the Florida Sunshine Law, and growing.

Lawmakers Considering Making Elected Officials’ Home Addresses Secret

February 14, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Florida's Sunshine Law forecast. (© FlaglerLive)

A Senate committee next week will consider a proposal that would shield from release the home addresses of state and local elected officials. The proposal furthers an accelerating trend toward government secrecy in numerous forms, without documented evidence that th secrecy is necessary or beneficial to the public.

Hillsborough Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda Wants Lawmakers To End Sunshine Law for All County Commissioners

January 30, 2025 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

Hillsborough County Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda would cut cold the Sunshine Law for commissioners. (X)

Among the list of legislative proposals that the Hillsborough County Commission is asking their state lawmakers to enact this year is a request from one commissioner to eliminate the Sunshine Law for county commissioners across Florida. Donna Cameron Cepeda, a Republican first elected in 2022, claims it’s not about reducing transparency but giving county commissioners more room to talk about sensitive subjects out of view of the public.

Appeals Court Splits Verdict on School District’s Sunshine Violations in Library Books Case

December 18, 2024 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The Indian River school district has the Superintendent of the Year. (Facebook)

An appeals court Wednesday said an Indian River County School Board textbook committee violated the state’s open-government Sunshine Law but a committee that reviewed school library books did not.

Sidestepping Executive Privilege, Appeal Court Sides with DeSantis on Records Denial, Calling Request ‘Overly Broad’

June 13, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Government in the Sunshine by Bill Day, FloridaPolitics.com

The appeal stemmed from a public-records request, filed by a person identified in court documents as J. Doe, seeking information from DeSantis’ office about influential conservatives involved in discussions about appointing Florida Supreme Court justices. In a subsequent lawsuit, Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey rejected the public-records request on a series of grounds, including that the governor had “executive privilege” that could be used to prevent release of certain documents.

DeSantis Lawyer Argues Governor’s ‘Executive Privilege’ Places Him Above Public Record Law

May 7, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 28 Comments

The DeSantis administration argues that some of the governor's records may be blurred from public view. (© FlaglerLive)

In a case that could have far-reaching implications for the state’s public-records laws, an appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to a judge’s ruling that “executive privilege” shields Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records. During Tuesday’s arguments before a three-judge panel of the Tallahassee-based 1st District Court of Appeal, the plaintiff’s attorney said that the constitutional right to public records does not include an exemption for the governor’s records.

Sally Hunt and Christy Chong Suggest Locking School Board Meeting Doors for Security and ‘Buzzing’ In People

March 6, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

What board members attended in person Tuesday--Cheryl Massaro, Christy Chon, Will Furry--listen to Sally Hunt by phone as Hunt speaks of her security concerns at workshops. (© FlaglerLive via Flagler Schools Youtube)

Sally Hunt made her evasive comment during a workshop after Board member Cheryl Massaro proposed that the board reevaluate the need for a $48-an-hour school resource deputy at each of its workshops. Hunt and Board member Christy Chong suggested locking the board room door during meetings, until they were told the meetings had to be kept accessible to the public at all times.

Palm Coast Searches for Its New Attorney In the Open. School Board Chooses Secrecy.

February 27, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

The School Board met on Jan. 23 to discuss its potential choice for new attorney representation. The meeting was not streamed, as meetings usually are. IKt was open to the public, but all documents that were part of the discussion were kept secret. (© FlaglerLive)

The Palm Coast City Council and the Flagler County School Board are searching for new attorneys to represent them in two very different ways. The council is conducting its search entirely in the open, ensuring that all related documents are public, providing them on request, and interviewing the firms in open forum. The school board, in contrast with its own precedents and with all other local governments, possibly in violation of law, is not.

School Board’s Christy Chong’s ‘Cause’ Letter to Fire Attorney Is a Tissue of Fabrications, Petty Grievances and Cluelessness

February 7, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 42 Comments

christy chong for cause kristy gavin letter

The six “causes” Flagler County School Board member Christy Chong listed as reasons to fire attorney Kristy Gavin come nowhere near “just cause” as defined in Gavin’s contract. Rather, they’re petty, inaccurate, gossipy and falsified grievances that have more to do with Chong being out of her depth, her embarrassment, her hatred for the press and her contempt for transparency and the public than anything to do with the quality of Gavin’s work in nearly two decades of representing the board. 

Florida’s Sunshine Law Is Dying

February 3, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

Democratic Sen. J. Emory “Red” Cross of Gainesville pioneered Florida's modern Sunshine Law. He would not recognize it today. (Florida Memory)

The battle, mostly lost, is not those individual exemptions to the Sunshine Law. It’s the totality of what’s been lost over the years: a presumption of openness has been replaced by the reverse, thanks to an unspoken but very effective bureaucracy of secrecy by process. The secrecy isn’t explicit. Most of your average government gatekeepers would never think of themselves as suppressing information. But the rules they have in place, allowing them to delay, obfuscate, censor and charge a ton of money before they comply, amount to the same thing: secrecy as standard operating procedure. 

Lawsuit Blames DeSantis for Wresting Control from FDLE to Keep Travel Records Secret

January 4, 2024 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

ron desantis secrecy

A legal battle has intensified about public records related to travel by Gov. Ron DeSantis, as The Washington Post accused the governor’s office of taking “control” of Florida Department of Law Enforcement compliance with the state’s Sunshine Law. A lawsuit about the records has roiled the FDLE, resulting in whistleblower complaints and the ouster of two high-ranking officials.

In Lawsuit Settlement DeSantis Administration Will Stop Censoring Covid Death Counts and Vaccinations

October 10, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

An image from the early days of the pandemic at UF Shands in Gainesville, in July 2020. (© FlaglerLive)

The DeSantis administration has agreed to release years of previously suppressed data about Covid’s spread in Florida to settle a lawsuit filed by a former state House member, a government openness group, and news organizations. The Florida Department of Health will resume posting on its website details of vaccination counts, case counts, and deaths weekly by county, age group, gender, and race in the future.

Here Are the 3 Lawsuits Against the District the School Board Will Discuss Behind Closed Doors Tuesday

October 2, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Tuesday's closed-door meeting was initially requested by school board members, contrary to state law, which authorizes only the school board attorney to call such "shade" meetings. (Marcus Wallis on Unsplash)

When the Flagler County School Board meets behind closed doors early Tuesday afternoon, a meeting that may at least in part be in violation of state law, it will discuss three pending lawsuits against the district, and potential settlements in two of them, including an employment discrimination lawsuit scheduled for trial in federal court in December.

Flagler School Board Wants ‘Standing’ Closed-Door Meetings Every 3 Months. That Would Be Illegal.

October 2, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

School Board members Will Furry, Christy Chong and Sally Hunt have been on the board for less than a year. Their grasp of sunshine is tenuous. (© FlaglerLive via Flagler Schools TV)

The Flagler County School Board directed its attorney to schedule “standing” closed-door meetings every three months to get updates on litigation facing the district. Such meetings would be illegal, as was the board assuming the authority to set such meetings, according to Florida law and a veteran local government attorney.

Flagler School Board Members Meet Behind Closed Doors to ‘Debrief’ Until Attorney Breaks Them Up

August 24, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 26 Comments

The School Board huddling in the superintnedent's office after her press conference this morning. Clockwise from left, Cheryl Massaro, the board chair, Colleen Coklin, Moore, Will Furry and Christy Chong. (© FlaglerLive)

All five Flagler County School Board members met behind a closed door after a press conference this morning, until the school board attorney, who had been unaware of the meeting, broke them up. One of the board member insists no business before the board was discussed, and that the meeting was intended only to tell the superintendent she had done a good job at the press conference.

Where DeSantis Goes and Who He Sees Is None of Your Business: Lawmakers Approve Secrecy

April 20, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 33 Comments

desantis governor secrecy travel mansion

The Florida Senate on Wednesday approved a controversial measure that would shield travel records of the governor and other state leaders. The proposal also would withhold from the public names of certain guests at the governor’s mansion.

Palm Coast Mayor Suggests Candidates Be Criminal-Background Checked. Council Isn’t Interested.

February 3, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 31 Comments

Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin speaking with City Attorney Neysa Borkert. (© FlaglerLive)

A proposal by Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin to criminally-background check all future candidates for council drew more cautions and concerns from other council members and zero support, prompting him to withdraw it “until or unless it’s discussed in the future,” he said.

Flagler Beach Rejects Realtor’s Odd Bid to Run City Information Website Only He Would Own

January 20, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Realtor John Horan, left, and Matt Morton, pitching the idea of a privately-owned website that would be a portal of public, city information. The Flagler Beach City Commission, hearing the proposal at a workshop Thursday, rejected it in favor of in-house products. (© FlaglerLive via Flagler Beach video)

Increasingly troubled by a perceived if amorphous failure of communication between the city and residents, the Flagler Beach City Commission considered then rejected the possibility of contracting with a local Realtor to run a city-related website, then opted to develop a new Facebook page and launch a new app on Monday.

DeSantis Administration Violated Public Records Law With Snub of Migrant Flight Data Request

October 25, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the public record law. (© FlaglerLive)

A Leon County circuit judge Tuesday ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration did not comply with the state’s public-records law after an open-government group sought records about a controversial decision to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

DeSantis, Transportation Department and Contractor Sued Over Records on Migrant Flights

October 18, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

The Florida Center for Government Accountability filed a lawsuit last week against Gov. Ron DeSantis and the governor’s office and this week against against the Florida Department of Transportation and a state contractor, alleging they did not comply with public-records requests stemming from controversial flights of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
seeking to force the release of records relating to

DeSantis Signs Records Expungement Bill

May 15, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

After the measure received unanimous approval in the House and Senate, Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 12 signed a bill that will expand minors’ ability to have arrest records expunged if they have completed diversion programs.

Sunshine Sunday: Keeping Open Government From Eclipse in Florida

March 20, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

sunshine sunday open records florida

Today, there are 1,138 exemptions to Florida’s open government laws, almost 200 more than 20 years ago, and growing. The public cannot simply rely on the good-natured commitment of those in government to safeguard transparency. Sunshine Week is the collective national effort to keep government doors to the public open, and its roots began in Florida.

Secret College Presidential Searches in Florida Would Open the Way to Corruption, Nepotism and Cronyism

January 28, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Openness and transparency are increasingly illusory at Florida universities. Above, the UCF Student Union. (© FlaglerLive)

Once again, certain legislators want to exert more control — not less — over the thoughts, actions and beliefs of local Floridians who are seeking higher education to improve their lives and the lives of their families.

Florida Department of Health Argues for Suppressing Covid Data in Public Records Lawsuit

September 26, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

public records suppression florida

The Florida Department of Health is trying to scuttle a public-records lawsuit seeking information about Covid-19, arguing that requested reports don’t exist and that the underlying data is confidential.

As Tempers Flare, Attorney and Flagler School Board Members Attempt Unprecedented Ban of Meeting’s Recording

September 9, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin, standing, explaining the legalities of recordings at public meetings, an issue that caused Flagler County School Board members to stop their training workshop today for 27 minutes. Two of the board members wanted to bar recordings at the session, which would have violated open-meeting laws. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin, School Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright attempted to ban recordings by a reporter and others of today’s daylong training workshop. A lawyer with the Attorney general’s office prevented the ban after a nearly 30-minute recess of the workshop.

Your Government Will Have a Harder Time Giving You Run-Around Over Public Records Thanks to New Law

July 5, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Judges have better things to do than force governments to comply with public record laws. (© FlaglerLive)

Your government can’t drag you into court anymore if you file a request for a public document. Legislation now signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis has put an end to these “declaratory judgment” lawsuits.

Palm Coast Government Sets Special Meeting for Wednesday at 9 a.m., With Little Notice

May 18, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Vice Mayor Eddie Branquinho will be serving as mayor until Milissa Holland's position is filled by a special election. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast City Manager Matt Morton Tuesday evening set a special meeting of the City Council for Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. in the wake of Milissa Holland’s resignation as mayor Tuesday evening. The meeting was noticed exclusively on the city’s webpage.

Sheriff Gualtieri: Cop “Who Shoots and Kills Another Is Not a ‘Victim’” and Cant’ Invoke Marsy’s Law to Hide Name

May 16, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

A document filed Wednesday by Gualtieri’s attorneys said a police officer “who shoots and kills another is not a ‘victim’ of that shooting and cannot invoke Marsy’s Law to shroud his shooting in secrecy.” (NSF)

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and the Miami Civilian Investigative Panel last week said they plan to file friend-of-the-court briefs at the Florida Supreme Court in a dispute about whether a 2018 constitutional amendment known as “Marsy’s Law” can prevent the release of officers’ names.

Florida Lawmakers Want Their Home Addresses and Phone Numbers Kept Secret

March 31, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

“We’ve had some situations where people have gotten that public information and have used that to harass and picket and threaten us at our homes,” Kelli Stargel, the Lakeland Republican and bill sponsor, says. (NSF)

The House and Senate are advancing proposals that would create a public-records exemption for information about lawmakers, including their home addresses and phone numbers, but opponents question how the measures would interact with a requirement that lawmakers live in their districts.

State Puts Gag Order on Flagler Health Department’s Public Release of Covid Numbers in Schools

September 4, 2020 | FlaglerLive | 36 Comments

flagler health department covid

The state’s gag order falls as the Flagler health department was preparing to issue a weekly reports of cases in schools, and as a drizzle of covid cases continues to affect Flagler schools, with a few classrooms, individual faculty and students required to quarantine. The district intends to issue some of the information.

Florida Cops in Use-of-Force Incidents Are Not Shielded by Victims’ Rights Law, Judge Rules

July 24, 2020 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

law enforcement marcy's law

Two Tallahassee police officers contended that the amendment should shield the release of their names because they had been victims in incidents that required the use of force — including a high-profile incident in which an officer shot and killed a transgender man.

Judge Weighs How Far Marcy’s Law Protecting Victims May Go to Shield Cops’ Identities

July 13, 2020 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

A lawsuit has exposed a broader conflict between two Florida constitutional amendments: Marsy’s Law and a decades-old government-in-the-sunshine amendment that established one of the nation’s broadest public-records laws. (© FlaglerLive)

The city of Tallahassee and media organizations on Monday tried to persuade a circuit judge that a 2018 constitutional amendment aimed at protecting victims’ rights does not allow police officers involved in use-of-force incidents to keep their identities secret.

Florida’s Police Union Wants Cops’ Identity Kept Secret Under Victims’ Rights Law

June 11, 2020 | FlaglerLive | 10 Comments

A woman taking the "don't shoot" stand in solidarity with marchers protesting police brutality in Flagler Beach last week. (© FlaglerLive)

Keeping secret the identity of a police officer who shot a black crime suspect might seem anathema during a national time of reckoning about police brutality and racial disparity. But that’s what a Florida police union is seeking.

Volusia/Flagler Chapter Marks ACLU’s Centennial With “Future Voters Essay Contest” and $500 Prize

March 9, 2020 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Lin-Manuel Miranda, his father Luis Miranda, and John James have a message on the ACLU's 100th birthday. (ACLU)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ‘s Volusia/Flagler chapter is celebrating the ACLU’s 100th birthday with an essay contest open to all students, with a $500 prize and publication of the winning essay in FlaglerLive.

FDLE Lacked Oversight of Employees’ Text Messages and Use of Personal Devices for State Business

December 1, 2019 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

fdle oversight

Florida’s top law enforcement agency did not have safeguards in place to ensure text messages sent and received by its employees were retained as required by state law, according to an audit released last week.

Obscenities Aside, Kimberle Weeks Appeal May Come Down to Judge’s Baffling Decree on ‘Public Meetings’ Definition

September 11, 2019 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Kimberle Weeks, right, with her attorneys Kevin Kulik and Ashley Kay at trial in April 2018. (© FlaglerLive)

Circuit Judge Margaret Hudson refused to allow a definition of “public meetings” during ex-Elections Supervisor Kim Weeks’s trial last year even though both defense and prosecution wanted a definition, which went to the heart of the case. That’s now a central plank in Weeks’s appeal.

Palm Coast Makes Candidates’ Campaign Finance Reports Accessible Electronically

August 20, 2019 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Flagler County Elections Supervisor Kaiti Lenhart supervising a straw poll ahead of the 2018 election. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast candidates for office’s campaign finance reports will finally be accessible to the public through the web, free of charge, through the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections’ website.

Barbara Petersen, Fierce Open Government Advocate for 25 Years, Is Stepping Down From First Amendment Foundation

June 30, 2019 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Barbara Petersen. (Facebook)

Barbara Petersen’s retirement from the First Amendment Foundation, after 25 years, takes place as legislators have piled up 1,122 exemptions to Florida’s open government laws.

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking To Block Florida Cabinet From Meeting in Israel, Out of Sunshine

May 28, 2019 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

DeSantis confuses Dead Sea sunshine for Florida's. (NSF)

The lawsuit, filed by the First Amendment Foundation and four major news organizations, accused the governor and Cabinet members of “willfully violating the law.”

Open Court Proceedings Require NRA-Backed Gun Litigants To Be Named, Florida Argues

September 26, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Two teens are conflating the right to bear arms with the non-existent right to sue anonymously. (Martin Suhl)

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is asking a federal appeals court to reject arguments that two 19-year-olds should be able to remain anonymous in a challenge to a new state gun law.

Supreme Court Clears Release of Parkland Massacre Videos School Board Sought to Block

August 22, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

A video still from surveillance footage outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the Feb. 14 massacre began.

The order sides with a coalition of news organizations and ordered the release of footage from the afternoon of Feb. 14, when 17 people were killed at the school.

Fearing Lawsuit, a Commissioner Questions Streaming Government Meetings

July 23, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

bunnell commission

A deputy clerk in Bunnell and a city commissioners wanted to end streaming government meetings from fear of getting sued until the city attorney saw an overreaction.

Bunnell Short-Lists Six Men For City Manager, But May Have Violated Sunshine Law

June 7, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

The Bunnell City Commission drew up its shortlist of candidates for city manager outside of an official meeting. From left, John Sowell, John Rogers, Mayor Catherine Robinson, Bill Baxley and Elbert Tucker. (© FlaglerLive)

The Bunnell City Commission short-listed six city manager candidates out of 18 outside of a public meeting, a method courts have found to violate the Sunshine law.

State Objects to Anonymity of 19 Year Old Woman Seeking to Join NRA Lawsuit

May 7, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

nra lawsuit secrecy anonymity

Lawyers for Attorney General Pam Bondi asked a federal judge to deny the anonymity request, calling it unjustified, and open court proceedings more important.

Jury Finds Ex-Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks Guilty On All 7 Felony Counts of Illegally Recording Others

April 5, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 25 Comments

A jury found Kimberle Weeks guilty on felony counts today, ending a four-day trial in a three-year case. But the defense will appeal. (c FlaglerLive)

Former Flagler County Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks was found guilty on felony counts that she illegally recorded other officials during her tenure.

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