Appropriate Reminders: Open Government and Sunshine Laws in the State of Florida

Having been a member of many public boards in Florida, I have had the opportunity to hear many board attorney presentations on the Open Government and Sunshine Laws under which public boards operate.  It's important to note regarding what is public information and what is not public information: Any record may be considered public information if it deals with an item that would likely be dealt with as a public matter and may be subject to a decision at some point in time by a public or elected official.  This is not only referring to the official e-mail address, for example, of an appointed or elected official.  This can mean non-official e-mail accounts and communications on social networking sites.

The important point here regarding the Sunshine Law is that two people sitting on the same elected or appointed board cannot discuss an item that would likely appear before them at a public meeting where they would be asked to vote on such an item.  An elected or appointed official cannot use "conduits" to relay information to another elected or appointed official on an item that is likely to come before them at a public meeting.  Two or more members of the same elected or appointed board or commission constitutes a meeting under the Sunshine Law - the meeting would have to be publicly noticed, held in a public place and minutes would need to be taken and made available to the public.  Telephone conversations and communication with "go betweens" do not meet this standard.

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