Florida Senate - 2016                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1220
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì670232sÎ670232                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/18/2016           .                                
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       The Committee on Fiscal Policy (Sachs) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 119.12, Florida Statutes, is amended to
    6  read:
    7         119.12 Attorney Attorney’s fees.—
    8         (1) If a civil action is filed against an agency to enforce
    9  the provisions of this chapter and if the court determines that
   10  such agency unlawfully refused to permit a public record to be
   11  inspected or copied, the court shall assess and award, against
   12  the agency responsible, the reasonable costs of enforcement,
   13  including reasonable attorney attorneys’ fees, against the
   14  responsible agency if the court determines that:
   15         (a) The agency unlawfully refused to permit a public record
   16  to be inspected or copied; and
   17         (b) The complainant provided written notice identifying the
   18  public record request to the agency’s custodian of public
   19  records at least 5 business days before filing the civil action,
   20  except as provided under subsection (3).
   21         (2) The court may not assess and award any reasonable costs
   22  of enforcement, including reasonable attorney fees, against the
   23  responsible agency if the court determines that the request to
   24  inspect or copy the public record was made primarily to harass
   25  the agency or cause a violation of this chapter.
   26         (3) The complainant is not required to provide written
   27  notice of the public record request to the agency’s custodian of
   28  public records as provided in paragraph (1)(b) if the agency
   29  does not prominently post the contact information for the
   30  agency’s custodian of public records in the agency’s primary
   31  administrative building in which public records are routinely
   32  created, sent, received, maintained, and requested and on the
   33  agency’s website, if the agency has a website.
   34         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
   35  
   36  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   37  And the title is amended as follows:
   38         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   39  and insert:
   40                        A bill to be entitled                      
   41         An act relating to public records; amending s. 119.12,
   42         F.S.; revising the circumstances under which a court
   43         must assess and award the reasonable costs of
   44         enforcement against an agency in a civil action to
   45         enforce ch. 119, F.S.; prohibiting a court from
   46         assessing and awarding the reasonable costs of
   47         enforcement against an agency if certain conditions
   48         exist; specifying circumstances under which a
   49         complainant is not required to provide certain written
   50         notice of a public record request; providing an
   51         effective date.