CHRISTOPHER CARDEN, APPELLANT,
v.
CHIEF OF POLICE, CITY OF CLEWISTON POLICE DEPARTMENT, APPELLEE
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The court reversed the trial court's denial of a mandamus petition regarding a public records request, holding that the police chief must justify an allegedly excessive special service charge under the Public Records Act.
A police chief must provide detailed justification for special service charges under the Public Records Act when the charge appears excessive and could inhibit the pursuit of statutory rights.
[1] Special service charges for public records research must be reasonable under section 119.07(l)(b), Florida Statutes, and an excessive charge may be challenged by mandamus…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“An excessive charge could well serve to inhibit the pursuit of rights conferred by the Public Records Act.”
Court explaining why the special service charge must be scrutinized despite initial compliance with the records request.
Christopher Carden requested public records from the Clewiston Police Department. The police chief provided certain reports but charged over $4,000 in…
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FRANK, Acting Chief Judge.
Christopher Carden sued the Chief of Police of the City of Clewiston, claiming that the police chief failed to comply with his public records request. The trial court denied Carden’s petition for writ of mandamus on the ground that the police chief had responded to the request. When Carden moved for rehearing, the court denied the motion as untimely. We reverse.
Carden’s motion was filed within ten days from the rendition of the order it was timely. Although it appears the trial court correctly denied the original petition because the police chief had complied with Carden’s request for certain police reports, there remained an additional issue concerning the special service charge that the chief required for his staff to research records that were not on computer — an amount in excess of $4,000.00. An excessive charge could well serve to inhibit the pursuit of rights conferred by the Public Records Act. Because section 119.07(l)(b), Florida Statutes (1995), requires special service charges to be “reasonable,” the police chief should be required to explain in more detail the reason for the magnitude of the assessment.
Reversed and remanded for rehearing.
PARKER, J., and FICARROTTA, GASPER J., Associate Judge, concur.
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Bd. OF Trs. v. LEE, 189 So. 3d 120 (Fla. 2016)…ute. Unlawful conditions or excessive, unwarranted special service charges deter individuals seeking public records from gaining access to the records to which they are [*130] entitled. See Carden v. Chief of Police, City of Clewiston Police Dep’t, 696 So. 2d 772, 773 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (“An excessive charge could well serve to inhibit the pursuit of rights conferred'by the Public Records Act”). Even if not malicious or done in bad faith, the Pension Fund’s actions— which were found to be unlawful — had the…
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The Bd. OF Cnty. Comm'rs OF Highlands Cnty. v. Colby, 976 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)…tion. Given the statutory requirement that the charge be reasonable and based on actual costs, we are confident that any abuse in future cases can be redressed through the courts. See, e.g., Carden v. Chief of Police, City of Clewiston Police Dep’t, 696 So. 2d 772 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (reversing and remanding for police chief to explain in detail special service charge of $4000 for public records request in light of statute’s requirement that charge be reasonable). Reversed in part, affirmed in part, and reman…
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Morris Publ'g Grp., LLC v. State of Fla. & Michael D. Dunn, 154 So. 3d 528 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)…lay in complying with a public record request amounts to an unlawful refusal under section 119.12(1), Florida Statutes.”). It may also occur by excessive special services charges. See, e.g., Carden v. Chief of Police, City of Clewiston Police Dep’t, 696 So. 2d 772, 773 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (“An excessive charge could well serve to inhibit the pursuit of rights conferred by the Public Records Act.”). B. The narrow focus of the challenge before us is whether the application of the SAO’s public records review po…
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