Destroying Public Records is Against the Law in Florida

March 11th-17th is Sunshine Week, America's annual celebration of government transparency, marked by hundreds of speeches, workshops, proclamations, performances, news stories and press releases nationwide. In the spirit of Sunshine Week, we wanted to look at some of the some of the activity happening in states across the U.S. Today, let's look at Florida.

A forensic investigator found that Hillsborough County's former head of the Public Transportation Commission (PTC) wiped incriminating text messages from his cell phone and eight county phones weeks before they were to be turned over to an investigator. The text messages were found in connection with a public records request related to the PTC's relationship with the taxicab firms the PTC regulates. This investigation highlights the need for public records laws in Florida and across the country.

The purpose of the Florida Sunshine Laws are to protect democracy by ensuring an open government. While we hear about a number of scandals like the one involving the former head of the PTC, the reality is that most government agencies want to comply with open records requests, but they struggle for the budget to hire employees to respond to requests, gather documents, make copies, and redact requested documents.
For most government entities, the problem with transparency is not due to a government conspiracy to withhold information, it's due to a lack of resources.

Our democracy depends upon having an informed, educated citizenry and an open, transparent government. Modern technology can help the sun shine in by making it easier and less time-consuming for officials to respond to public records requests.

Monday we visit Michigan.