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Public Records Availability

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L

Law_Student

Member
State: Florida

I am 14 years old and live in Florida. I also live in a residential community where I regularly attend community meetings. Recently, a meeting occurred where the minutes of the meeting were recorded by an elected secretary, as always. However, the vice-president of the Board of Directors nullified the meeting, due to reasons that are unknown to me. Any decisions that were made during that meeting were made illegal and thus the meeting was repeated. I have read many parts of the Florida Statue, including paragraph(?) 119.07, which deals with exemptions of the availability of public records, but was unable to find an answer to my question. What I would like to know is, even though the meeting was nullified, do I still have the right to view/duplicate the notes that were taken during that meeting?
Any information is certainly appreciated.
​
Sincerely,

Law_Student
 


H

Happy Trails

Senior Member
Law_Student said:
State: Florida

I am 14 years old and live in Florida. I also live in a residential community where I regularly attend community meetings. Recently, a meeting occurred where the minutes of the meeting were recorded by an elected secretary, as always. However, the vice-president of the Board of Directors nullified the meeting, due to reasons that are unknown to me. Any decisions that were made during that meeting were made illegal and thus the meeting was repeated. I have read many parts of the Florida Statue, including paragraph(?) 119.07, which deals with exemptions of the availability of public records, but was unable to find an answer to my question. What I would like to know is, even though the meeting was nullified, do I still have the right to view/duplicate the notes that were taken during that meeting?
Any information is certainly appreciated.
​
Sincerely,

Law_Student
Click to expand...
This sounds like a homework question. I would suggest you go back and read through each part of that statute. The answer is there. Read it slowly and repeat it if you do not understand.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0119/Sec07.HTM
 
L

Law_Student

Member
Hello,

I have reread 119.07 and I must admit that while I became educated about many of the instances when public records are exempt (confidential information, building schematics, surveillance tapes, etc.), I must admit that nowhere did I find a section dealing with the availability of the records after a meeting has been nullified. Then again, I could simply be looking in the wrong section, but this section is one of the biggest ones for exemptions, so if it's not there, does that mean that yes, the records are available to me?
Just to clear up something though, and I apologize in advance if I misunderstood your comment, but this is an actual real-world scenario, and all of the information that I have provided in my first post is real (I REALLY do attend the meetings and the vice-president REALLY did nullify the meeting), so even though it sounds like a homework question, it is real :)

Sincerely,

Law_Student

P.S. Thank you for the responses and the time taken to respond to my post.
 
A

absconder

Guest
junior law education

Keep up your good work,youve shown persistance and intellect.Most kids roll over at this sort of thing but you can prove yourself as a REAL attorney.The future is yours my dear..............YES those meetings in private could be detrimental to your parents and to others.............I commend you for your excellence in attitude and jr JOURNALISM.
 
H

Happy Trails

Senior Member
Law_Student said:
Hello,

I have reread 119.07 and I must admit that while I became educated about many of the instances when public records are exempt (confidential information, building schematics, surveillance tapes, etc.), I must admit that nowhere did I find a section dealing with the availability of the records after a meeting has been nullified. Then again, I could simply be looking in the wrong section, but this section is one of the biggest ones for exemptions, so if it's not there, does that mean that yes, the records are available to me?
Just to clear up something though, and I apologize in advance if I misunderstood your comment, but this is an actual real-world scenario, and all of the information that I have provided in my first post is real (I REALLY do attend the meetings and the vice-president REALLY did nullify the meeting), so even though it sounds like a homework question, it is real :)

Sincerely,

Law_Student

P.S. Thank you for the responses and the time taken to respond to my post.
Click to expand...
Not knowing the reason they decided to make the meeting invalid, it makes it difficult to answer your question. Could be they didn't proceed properly, the subject matter that was being discussed wasn't allowed....... This would make it difficult to know if it could be viewed or copied.

If they kept any records from this meeting, you could ask to see them and would be allowed to copy them. If for some reason the meeting is being stated as exempt; they have to have a reason (I'm sure you understood that, since you seem very literate).

Your best option is to go and ask. They may only have information stating why the meeting was nullified and state the reason why. Especially if they got into an area that was considered confidential.
 
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