§2-D-8 | OVERBROAD PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS
Thus, a person seeking to inspect “all” financial records of a municipality may not be required to specify a particular book or record he or she wishes to inspect. State ex rel. Davidson v. Couch, 156 So. 297, 300 (Fla. 1934). In Davidson, the Florida Supreme Court explained that if this were the case, “one person may be required to specify the book, while another and more favored one, because of his pretended ignorance of the name of the record might be permitted examination of all of them.” Id. Such a result would be inconsistent with the mandate in the Public Records Act that public records are open to all who wish to inspect them. Id. Cf. Salvadore v. City of Stuart, No. 91-812 CA (Fla. 19th Cir. Ct. December 17, 1991), available online in the Cases database at the open government site at MyFloridaLegal.com, stating that if a public records request is insufficient to identify the records sought, the city has an affirmative duty to promptly notify the requester that more information is needed in order to produce the records; it is the responsibility of the city and not the requestor to follow up on any requests for public records. Compare Woodard v. State, 885 So. 2d 444, 446 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (records custodian must furnish copies of records when the person requesting them identifies the portions of the record with sufficient specificity to permit the custodian to identify the record and forwards the statutory fee).
Use these in conjunction with the Guide for Filing Criminal Charges against an Agency/Officer that Violates Public Records Law.
As always, please get the justice you deserve.
Sincerely,
www.TextBookDiscrimination.com
