06-18-25 Board and Committee Training Agenda
City of Atlantic Beach
Agenda
Board and Committee Training
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - 5:00 PM
Commission Chamber
City Hall, 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
Page(s)
CALL TO ORDER
1. TRAINING: PUBLIC RECORDS, SUNSHINE LAW, AND ETHICS
Presentation by Jason R. Gabriel, City Attorney
Sunshine & Public Records
3 - 16
ADJOURNMENT
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 286.26, Florida Statutes, persons
with disabilities needing special accommodation to participate in this meeting should contact the City
Clerk’s Office by 5:00 PM, the Tuesday prior to the meeting.
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LAWS
PUBLIC RECORDS & SUNSHINE
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“Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by
doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave
acts.”
-Aristotle
“Secrecy in government is fundamentally anti-democratic, perpetuating
bureaucratic error.”
-Justice William O. Douglas
QUOTATIONS
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OPEN RECORDS LAWS
●Florida Statutes §119.01, et. seq.
OPEN MEETINGS LAWS
●Florida Statutes §286.011
GOVERNMENT IN THE
SUNSHINE
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History: Florida’s first public records law was passed in 1909 and stated:
“That all state, county and municipal records shall at all times be open for a
personal inspection of any citizen of Florida, and those in charge of such
records shall not refuse this privilege to any citizen.”
Chapter 5942, Acts 1909, Sec 1.
●Codified in Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes.
●Article 1, Section 24(a) of the Florida Constitution provides a constitutional
guarantee as to the openness of public records.
PUBLIC RECORDS LAW
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Scope:
●Law requires a public custodian to permit the inspection and copying of all
public records under reasonable conditions and supervision.
§119.07(1) F.S.
●All documents are public records unless exempted by Florida statute.
§119.011(8) F.S.
●A public record is: “Any material prepared in connection with official agency
business which is intended to perpetuate, communicate or formalize knowledge.”
Shevin v. Byron, Harles, et. al., 379 So.2d 633 (Fl. 1980). If it relates to official
business of the government, assume it’s a public record.
PUBLIC RECORDS LAW
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§119.011(12) F.S. Definition of “Public Record”:
“…all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films,
sound recordings, data processing software, or other material, regardless of
the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received
pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official
business by any agency.”
PUBLIC RECORDS LAW
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Consequences of failing to comply with the Act:
●A “knowing” violation of the law is a misdemeanor of the first degree punishable by
imprisonment in jail for up to 1 year.
§119.10(2) F.S.
●All other violations are noncriminal punishable by fines not exceeding $500.00.
§119.10(1) F.S.
●Civil actions: Violations likely result in civil action for injunctive or declaratory relief against
the City and the individual officer where the claimant will seek to: (a) declare the violation
(§119.011 F.S.); (b) Compel disclosure and copying (Staton v. McMillan, 597 So.2d 940 (Fla 1
st
DCA 1992); and (c) Award attorneys fees and costs in the event of violation (§119.012 F.S.).
●Records can only be destroyed with approval of the State of Florida’s Division of Library and
Information Services, Department of State. (§119.021(2) F.S.).
PUBLIC RECORDS LAW
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●Florida established a requirement in 1967 to have meetings open to the
public. The basic law is found in Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes where it
states:
“All meetings of any board or commission . . . or of any agency or authority
of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision . . . at which
official acts are to be taken are declared to be public meetings open to the
public at all times, and no resolution, rule or formal action shall be considered
binding except as taken or made at such meeting. The board or commission
must provide reasonable notice of all such meetings.” (§286.011 F.S.).
●Article 1, Section 24(b) of the Constitution of the State of Florida provides
a constitutional guarantee as to the openness of public meetings.
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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Scope:
Law applies to all publicly elected and appointed officials, commission,
councils, boards and committees and includes members-elect.
●Law requires meetings to be open to the public;
●Law requires reasonable notice of each meeting;
●Law requires minutes of each meeting to be taken and transcribed.
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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Consequences of failing to comply with the Act:
●A “knowing” violation of the law is a misdemeanor of the second degree
punishable by imprisonment in jail for up to 60 days.§286.011(3)(b) F.S.
●All other violations are noncriminal punishable by fines not exceeding $500.00.
§286.011(3)(a)) F.S.
●Civil actions: Violations likely result in civil action for injunctive or declaratory
relief where the claimant will seek to: (a) declare the violation; (b) stop future
violations; (c) invalidate action taken by the Council or Committee; and (d) award
attorneys fees and costs in the event a violation is found even against the
individual in violation (§286.011(4) F.S.).
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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Applicable when:
●Any 2 or more board members meet to discuss any matter which will
foreseeably be acted upon by the board. This includes all meetings, subcommittee
or otherwise, casual or chance gatherings, telephone conversations, written or
electronic correspondence used to develop a position or engage in a written
debate, liasons used to communicate information between members.
●The law does not apply to: meetings between ●single board members and the
Mayor, or one or more of the Mayor’s staff,●a single board member and
members of the public,●a single board member and one elected or appointed
official from another board ●board members speaking about philosophies, trends
and issues facing the City at a public forum where there is no intent to circumvent
the law.
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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Types of discussions covered by the Sunshine Law:
●Any matters which will foreseeably be acted on by the board
●Pending ordinances, resolutions and agenda items
●Matters that will foreseeably be drafted into ordinances, resolutions and
agenda items such as fact-finding matters, investigative inquiries, personnel
matters, interviews, screening committees, most economic development
matters, quasi-judicial matters and most legal matters.
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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Exemptions include (Shade Meetings - “out of the sunshine”):
●Certain collective bargaining strategy sessions -§447.605(1) F.S.
No notice and no minutes are required
●Limited attorney-client litigation strategy sessions -§286.011(8) F.S.
Strict notice, and steno-reported minutes are required to be taken and printed.
●Other exemptions that may be created by Florida Statute from time to time.
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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Notice, Location and Procedural Requirements
●Reasonable notice is an undefined term subject to interpretation on a case by case basis.
§286.011(1) F.S.
●24 hours is generally considered the minimum notice for special meetings. Take note of any
further Ordinance or Statutory notice requirements. Further, some meetings must be advertised;
City of Atlantic Beach has a standard policy of at least 48 hours minimum notice for a meeting.
●Reasonable notice is required even if there is general knowledge of the meeting or even if a
quorum will not be present.
●Notice must be posted in an area typically set aside for posting City notices.
●Members of the public shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on a proposition
before a board or commission which does need not occur at the same meeting at which the board
or commission takes official action on the proposition if the opportunity occurs at a meeting that
is during the decisionmaking process and is within reasonable proximity in time before the
meeting where there is official action; this does not prohibit a board or commission from
maintaining orderly conduct or proper decorum in a public meeting.§286.0114 F.S.
OPEN MEETINGS “SUNSHINE”
LAW
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