Florida Senate - 2016               CS for CS for CS for SB 1220
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; Judiciary; and Governmental
       Oversight and Accountability; and Senator Garcia
       
       594-03758A-16                                         20161220c3
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s. 119.12,
    3         F.S.; revising the circumstances under which a court
    4         must assess and award the reasonable costs of
    5         enforcement against an agency in a civil action to
    6         enforce ch. 119, F.S.; prohibiting a court from
    7         assessing and awarding the reasonable costs of
    8         enforcement against an agency if certain conditions
    9         exist; specifying circumstances under which a
   10         complainant is not required to provide certain written
   11         notice of a public record request; providing an
   12         effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Section 119.12, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   17  read:
   18         119.12 Attorney Attorney’s fees.—
   19         (1) If a civil action is filed against an agency to enforce
   20  the provisions of this chapter and if the court determines that
   21  such agency unlawfully refused to permit a public record to be
   22  inspected or copied, the court shall assess and award, against
   23  the agency responsible, the reasonable costs of enforcement,
   24  including reasonable attorney attorneys’ fees, against the
   25  responsible agency if the court determines that:
   26         (a) The agency unlawfully refused to permit a public record
   27  to be inspected or copied; and
   28         (b) The complainant provided written notice identifying the
   29  public record request to the agency’s custodian of public
   30  records at least 5 business days before filing the civil action,
   31  except as provided under subsection (3).
   32         (2) The court may not assess and award any reasonable costs
   33  of enforcement, including reasonable attorney fees, against the
   34  responsible agency if the court determines that the request to
   35  inspect or copy the public record was made primarily to harass
   36  the agency or cause a violation of this chapter.
   37         (3) The complainant is not required to provide written
   38  notice of the public record request to the agency’s custodian of
   39  public records as provided in paragraph (1)(b) if the agency
   40  does not prominently post the contact information for the
   41  agency’s custodian of public records in the agency’s primary
   42  administrative building in which public records are routinely
   43  created, sent, received, maintained, and requested and on the
   44  agency’s website, if the agency has a website.
   45         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.