Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 1452 
 
By Senator Gelber 
35-00225-10                                           20101452__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to public records; amending s. 16.60, 
3         F.S.; authorizing a mediator for the public records 
4         mediation program within the Office of the Attorney 
5         General to issue an opinion as to whether a public 
6         record is open to the public upon payment of a fee; 
7         requiring the record to be released under certain 
8         circumstances; providing an effective date. 
9 
10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
11 
12         Section 1. Present subsection (4) of section 16.60, Florida 
13  Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (5), and a new 
14  subsection (4) is added to that section, to read: 
15         16.60 Public records mediation program within the Office of 
16  the Attorney General; creation; duties.— 
17         (4) Upon payment of a fee not to exceed $50, as established 
18  by rule, a party who challenges an agency decision regarding 
19  access to records may request a mediator to issue an opinion as 
20  to whether all or part of the records are open to the public. If 
21  the mediator opines that a record is open to the public, the 
22  record must be released, unless the agency, within 5 business 
23  days after the opinion is issued, files suit in circuit court 
24  pursuant to s. 119.11. The fee shall be refunded unless the 
25  agency prevails in full. 
26         (5)(4) This section is intended to provide a method for 
27  resolving disputes relating to public records, and is intended 
28  to be supplemental to, not a substitution for, the other powers 
29  given to the Attorney General by law. 
30         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.