Sunshine Law W ork Session Orange County Board of County Com m - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sunshine Law W ork Session Orange County Board of County Com m issioners Orange County Attorney’s Office February 7 , 2 0 1 7

Sunshine Law  Overview of Sunshine Law  Exceptions  Potential Pit Falls  Violations  Enforcem ent 2

Sunshine Law  Overview of Sunshine Law  Exceptions  Potential Pit Falls  Violations  Enforcem ent 3

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Provides right of access to governm ental proceedings  Applies to both elected and appointed boards  General Rule – All m eetings at w hich official acts are taken or public business is transacted or discussed shall be open and noticed to the public Article I , Section 2 4 , Florida Constitution Section 2 8 6 .0 1 1 , Florida Statutes 4

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Sunshine Law applies to: Any m eeting – Betw een tw o or m ore m em bers of the sam e board – W hen discussing m atters that m ay foreseeably – com e before that board  “Meeting” includes: – BCC, advisory board, w ork group m eetings – Telephone calls, text m essages – Em ails, other w ritten correspondence – I nform al discussions or deliberations – I nterm ediaries/ liaisons/ conduits 5

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Sunshine Law m eetings are subject to three basic requirem ents: – Meeting m ust be noticed to public – Meeting m ust be open to public – Minutes m ust be recorded 6

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW ▪ “Reasonable notice” Not defined by statute – Notice given at such tim e and in such m anner that – m edia and general public m ay attend m eeting Dependent on circum stances and type of m eeting – 7

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Meetings m ust be open to public Location easily accessible to public – Adequate size – May not discrim inate against or restrict access to – public 8

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Minutes Prom ptly recorded in w riting – Available and open to public for inspection and – copying Consist of brief notes reflecting events of m eeting – Audio recording perm itted but not required – 9

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  County Adm inistrative Regulations address “Noticed Meetings” and require: – Notice – Agenda Developm ent Office generates m eeting notice and provides at least 2 w orking days notice – Open to Public – Meeting held in County m eeting room or a m eeting room at a governm ental building w here public m ay freely attend – Minutes – Minutes taken by County Com ptroller staff and audio recorded 10

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Court I nterpretations of Sunshine Law : Construed so as to frustrate all evasive devices – Construed liberally to give m eaning to its public – purpose Exem ptions should be narrow ly construed – Each step in the decision m aking process is an – official act 11

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW  Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Gov’t v. City of Sarasota , 4 8 So. 3 d 7 5 5 ( Fla. 2 0 1 0 ) Board entered into a MOU w ith a professional – baseball team Prior to the public hearing, private staff m eetings – w ere held w ith each com m issioner Meetings w ere inform ational briefings regarding – contents of the MOU No evidence that staff com m unicated inform ation – from one com m issioner to the other Court found no violation of Sunshine Law – 12

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW • Blackford v. School Board of Orange County , 3 7 5 So. 2 d 5 7 8 ( Fla. 5 th DCA 1 9 7 9 ) Superintendent held a series of successive one on – one m eetings w ith individual m em bers of the School Board to discuss several options to solve a redistricting problem After m eetings, staff put together a plan w hich – w as adopted at a public m eeting Court found that Sunshine Law had been violated – because the circum stances am ounted to defacto m eetings at w hich official acts w ere taken 13

SUNSHI NE LAW OVERVI EW • Finch v. Sem inole County School Board , 9 9 5 So. 2 d 1 0 6 8 ( Fla. 5 th DCA 2 0 0 8 ) Board m em bers w ent on “fact-finding” tour of – neighborhoods affected by proposed rezoning Court found bus tour violated the Sunshine Law – because Board convened in a confined space and had opportunity to m ake decisions outside of public scrutiny Violation not egregious and w as corrected by – subsequent m eetings and discussions open to the public 14

SUNSHI NE LAW  Overview of Sunshine Law  Exceptions  Potential Pit Falls  Violations  Enforcem ent 15

SUNSHI NE LAW Exceptions  Fact-Finding Com m ittees Only applies to inform ation gathering and reporting – I f com m ittee authorized to m ake recom m endations, – Sunshine Law applies  Litigation Discussions – Settlem ent or litigation strategy discussions – Discussions regarding evaluation of risk m anagem ent claim s – Exem pt from Sunshine Law and m inutes exem pt from public records law s until end of litigation 16

SUNSHI NE LAW Exceptions (Con’t)  Labor Collective bargaining negotiations w ith bargaining – agent are subject to Sunshine Law Discussions betw een County Adm inistrator and – Board are exem pt – § 4 4 7 .6 0 5 , Fla. Stat.  Security Discussion and records concerning security system s – and public property are exem pt from Sunshine – § 2 8 6 .0 1 1 3 ( 1 ) , Fla. Stat. 17

Sunshine Law Potential Pit Falls  Overview of Sunshine Law  Exceptions  Potential Pit Falls  Violations  Enforcem ent 18

Sunshine Law Potential Pit Falls  Speaking Engagem ents – Tw o or m ore Board m em bers in attendance – One or m ore Board m em bers m ay be a speaker – More than one Board m em ber m ay give an opinion – But cannot engage in discourse betw een each other 19

Sunshine Law Potential Pit Falls (Con’t)  Social Media AGO 2 0 0 9 -1 9 – Com m unications on governm ent Facebook page – m ay be subject to governm ent in the Sunshine Law Board m em bers m ay not use governm ent’s – Facebook page in discussion of m atters that foreseeably w ill com e before the Board 20

Sunshine Law Potential Pit Falls (Con’t)  Conduits/ I nterm ediaries/ Liaisons Board m em bers m ay not have staff or non-board – m em bers act as liaisons betw een board m em bers Com m unication w ith a private citizen w hom board – m em ber knew or should have know n w as acting as a conduit 21

Sunshine Law  Overview of Sunshine Law  Exceptions  Potential Pit Falls  Violations  Enforcem ent 22

Sunshine Law Violations  Action taken is void Can be cured by subsequent Sunshine m eetings –  Attorney’s fees recoverable  Unknow n violation – Non-crim inal infraction $ 5 0 0 fine  Know n violation – $ 5 0 0 fine and/ or 6 0 days in jail  Rem oval from office by Governor – extraordinary 23

Sunshine Law  Overview of Sunshine Law  Exceptions  Potential Pit Falls  Violations  Enforcem ent 24

Sunshine Law Enforcem ent  Sunshine violations are norm ally investigated by Law Enforcem ent  Prosecuted by State Attorneys 25

SUNSHINE LAW Questions? 26

Sunshine Law W ork Session Orange County Board of County Com m issioners Orange County Attorney’s Office February 7 , 2 0 1 7