May 7, 2009 · Comments Off
PORT ORANGE — If a city employee works more than 15 minutes to provide a public record, some cities add a charge above the 15 cents per page copying rate.
Other cities add a charge after 30 minutes.
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Florida’s Sunshine Law requires open access to government records, as well as open meetings. However, some fees are allowed for public records.
“Basically, the law allows agencies to charge an extensive-use fee when the nature of the request requires extensive work by a clerical person,” said Adria Harper, director of the First Amendment Foundation, a Tallahassee-based Sunshine Law watchdog group.
Local governments that want to enact an extensive-use charge must base the fee on the actual cost to produce the record.
“They can’t be generating revenue with public records requests,” Harper said.
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East Volusia News – newsjournalonline.com.
Categories: Public Records
May 5, 2009 · Comments Off
Local governments’ adoption and use of new technologies is refreshing and commendable, but there will be growing pains in many areas, including the Florida’s Sunshine and Public Records laws.
CORAL SPRINGS – There are still some technicalities to work out, but after a nod from the Florida Attorney General's Office, the city plans to debut on Facebook within months.
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“It might wind up being the best way for us to communicate regularly, easily and efficiently,” he said.
While Coral Springs isn’t the first city to have a Facebook page (Tamarac and Pompano Beach already beat them to it), it is the first city to ask the state for a legal opinion about the social networking tool, said Sandi Copes, communications director for the attorney general.
The city still must work out how to retain copies of Web pages for public inspection, to comply with the state’s open records law, said City Attorney Sam Goren. “It has to be retained in the computer system,” he said.
The question is how to make the Facebook page comply with state law, said City Manager Michael Levinson. “And to what extent. That’s what we’re looking at now.”
The rest is easy: The state said commissioners can’t talk to each other on Facebook since that would violate the Sunshine Law requirement that politicians discuss city business in the open. And comments posted to the city’s page by its “friends” will be public, too.
Florida’s public records and Sunshine laws safeguard the public’s right of access to government records and proceedings. Memos and e-mails, for example, are public records that must be disclosed to residents upon request.
via Coral Springs getting set for Facebook debut after state gives its OK — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.
Categories: Local Government · Public Records · Sunshine · Tech
Tagged: Facebook
May 5, 2009 · Comments Off
You don’t often hear of ethics complaints being filed against school personnel, but that is precisely what happened in this case. Although this particular case was not dismissed on the grounds that school personnel are not liable under Chapter 112 of the Florida Statutes, or that issuing false diplomas isn’t actionable, but because the case was brought apparently against the wrong person.
The Florida Commission of Ethics said this week that it does not believe that former school superintendent Grady “Sam” Markham misused his position in the issuance of three fraudulent diplomas in 2007 and dismissed the complaint against him.
via Lake City Reporter > Archives > News > Markham cleared in diploma scandal.
Categories: Commission on Ethics · Schools
May 5, 2009 · Comments Off
Sometimes election activities can lead to complaints in other arenas, such as the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
A 3-year-old ethics complaint against Judge Terri-Ann Miller was dropped late last week by the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the group that investigates claims of unethical conduct against judges.
Miller was accused of misleading voters into thinking she was a sitting judge when she ran for election in 2006. The complaint said Miller distributed campaign materials implying she was the incumbent when she was not. Her campaign material also included a photo of her wearing a judicial robe, according to the complaint.
Miller was a judge for eight years in Miami-Dade County but did not seek re-election there in 2000.
Six years later, she was in private practice when she ran successfully for election to the Broward bench. At the time, Miller said she used yard signs left over from her 2000 campaign. She said she put small stickers saying “former” before the word “judge” on the signs.
Ethics complaint against judge stemming from ‘06 campaign dropped — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.
Categories: Election Law · Judicial Misconduct
May 5, 2009 · Comments Off
Categories: Juvenile · Schools
May 5, 2009 · Comments Off
Categories: Criminal Law
Tagged: Sex Crimes
May 5, 2009 · Comments Off
Avon Park Police Officer Alberto Perez was out of jail Friday on a $6,000 bond following his second arrest Thursday for allegations of police misconduct.
Perez, 34, was arrested on warrants charging extortion or threats and official misconduct.
On June 28, 2008, Perez reportedly responded to a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Main Street and South Lake Avenue in Avon Park, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The driver of a Dodge truck was responsible because he reportedly rear-ended a van with his vehicle. Perez arrived at the accident and took the truck driver’s license. The officer told the Hispanic male that his license was invalid and that he could be arrested, the affidavit stated.
“OK, take me to jail,” the man reportedly told Perez.
Perez allegedly told the man he could keep him out of jail if he paid the officer $300. The driver then got the money out of his truck and put it in the back of Perez’s ticket book, according to the affidavit. The man was released and given a copy of the crash report.
via Perez faces another charge of extortion.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Police Misconduct
