RENE WOODARD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Woodard sought mandamus to compel the state attorney and clerk of circuit court to provide copies of public records related to his three criminal cases. The court affirmed the denial as to the state attorney for insufficient specificity but reversed and remanded as to the clerk for failing to respond to Woodard's request for copying cost information.
The court held that mandamus is the proper vehicle to compel public records compliance. The court affirmed denial as to the state attorney because Woodard failed to identify records with sufficient specificity. The court reversed as to the clerk of circuit court, holding the clerk had a duty under Wootton v. Cook to respond to Woodard's request for specific copying cost information regarding identified documents.
[1] Mandamus is the proper procedural vehicle to compel compliance with requests for public records.
[2] A custodian of public records has an obligation to respond to mailed requests for information regarding copying costs.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is the obligation of the custodian of public records to respond to mailed requests for information as to copying costs and to furnish copies of records when the person requesting them identifies the portions of the record with sufficient specificity to permit the custodian to identify the record and forwards the fee.”
Establishes the legal standard for public records custodian obligations under Wootton v. Cook
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWoodard made written requests dated February 20, 2002 and June 27, 2002 to the state attorney and clerk of circuit court for records including deposit…
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PER CURIAM.
This court previously affirmed without prejudice the trial court’s summary denial of Woodard’s prior petition for writ of mandamus, seeking to compel the state attorney and the clerk of the circuit court to comply with his requests for copies of all their records pertaining to his three criminal cases. The prior petition did not attach any documentation substantiating his record requests, and this court’s affir-mance was without prejudice to Woodard’s re-filing his petition within thirty days to include copies of substantiating correspondence and entitlement to the records. Woodard v. State, 840 So. 2d 355 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).
Woodard timely re-filed his petition in April 2003, this time including correspondence substantiating a request dated February 20, 2002, to each official for their records concerning his cases, specifically including any depositions, arrest reports, and psychological evaluations. In connection with his request to the clerk of the court, he also attached a copy of a document request dated June 27, 2002, specifically requesting certain documents for each case: the information, written plea agreement, arrest report, criminal history and disposition. Within the document request addressed to the clerk of the court, he asked to be advised of the cost of the copies requested. He alleged again in his new petition that he again received no response.1
The appellee concedes that mandamus is the proper vehicle for an individual to compel compliance with a request for public records, whether made pursuant to section 119.07 or Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.051, but takes the position the new petition, too, was facially insufficient in not including sufficient copies of his purported requests and was not sufficiently specific concerning the documents requested.
It is the obligation of the custodian of public records to respond to mailed requests for information as to copying costs and to furnish copies of records when the person requesting them identifies the portions of the record with sufficient specificity to permit the custodian to identify the record and forwards the fee. See Wootton v. Cook, 590 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). With respect to the document request addressed to the clerk of the circuit court, Woodard requested specific documents and requested information about the costs of copying them. Under Woot-ton, the clerk of the court had a duty to respond to the request for information as to copying costs.
With regard to the state attorney, we affirm because Appellant failed to identify with sufficient specificity the records requested. Accordingly, we affirm in part, as to the request to the state attorney. We reverse in part, as to the request to the clerk of the circuit court, and remand for the circuit court for further proceedings, including the issuance of an alternative writ of mandamus to the clerk of the circuit court to show cause why the requested relief should not be granted.
STONE, TAYLOR and MAY, JJ., concur. . According to the initial brief, after issuance of the order on appeal, the clerk of the circuit court sent Woodard a document, informing him that the fee schedule in use in that office was $ 1 per page. He notes that this information is not helpful, as he needs to know the total cost of the requested records.
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Javoney D. Roberts v. State, 235 So. 3d 1001 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…c records request that he made to the State Attorney’s Office. See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.630(b); Gilliam v. State, 996 So. 2d 966, 958 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Major v. Hallandale Beach Police Dep’t, 219 So. 3d 856, 858 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017); Woodard v. State, 885 So. 2d 444, 445 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). If Roberts states a facially sufficient claim, then the circuit court must issue an alternative writ of mandamus requiring the State Attorney’s Office to show cause why Roberts is not entitled to the requested relief. See F…
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Chandler v. The City OF Greenacres, 140 So. 3d 1080 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)…eceives a written request by mail for public records and for information regarding copying costs, the custodian has a duty to respond with the amount of the fee and, once the requester has forwarded the fee, to produce the records. Woodard v. State, 885 So. 2d 444, 445-46 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); see also Wootton v. Cook, 590 So. 2d 1039, 1040 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). “[T]he Public Records Act does not condition the inspection of public records on any requirement that the person seeking to inspect records reveal tha…
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Hogan v. State, 983 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)…until Hogan or someone on his behalf went to the location where the records were stored. As the custodian of the judicial records at issue here, the clerk “had a duty to respond to the request for information as to copying costs.” Woodard v. State, 885 So. 2d 444, 446 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (reversing when clerk informed appellant only of the general fee schedule for records but refused to state total cost for requested records); see also Mathis v. State, 722 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) (reversing when court…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Wootton v. Cook, 590 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
- Bivens v. State, 840 So. 2d 355 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)