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Few Agencies Ace Public Records Test
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Published: March 16, 2008
TAMPA - The Hillsborough County personnel office was anything but bustling on a recent Thursday. The county commission was in session downstairs; not a chair was occupied in the small waiting area.
An assistant at the office, though, said she was too busy to get copies of public records without at least 24 hours' notice.
"I have other things to do," the assistant said. "You can't just come in here."
Actually, people asking for public records from taxpayer-funded agencies don't have to make an appointment. The law is clear on that point and others that require government officials to provide records to the public when requested without demanding to know who they are or why they want to see them.
The laws - some of the most liberal in the nation - are meant to remove barriers so residents can judge for themselves how local governments operate and spend taxpayer money. Violators can land in jail or face fines.
A Tampa Tribune audit of 10 government agencies in Hillsborough and Pasco counties showed, however, that most agencies asked for requests in writing or demanded names and reasons of those asking, none of which the law requires.
Open records proponents say such responses are the norm rather than the exception and serve as barriers to citizens who want to get information about their local government. Representatives of several agencies audited by the Tribune said they do their best to comply with the law, but that the audit illustrates a need for better training of front-line government workers about the Sunshine Law.
"We learned from your exercise," said Linda Cobbe, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County School District. "Most of those people at district headquarters don't know what a public record is and what's not."
The Tribune conducted its audit over two days, with one reporter focusing on Hillsborough and another on Pasco. The reporters, acting as auditors, asked for the two most recent performance evaluations of high-ranking government officials, as well as their latest cell phone bill.
The exercise was modeled on a similar statewide survey by the First Amendment Foundation and was designed to find out how easily the general public can see government records. The reporters did not identify themselves as working for the newspaper and gave only their name if asked.
The First Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit organization funded by news organizations, sent volunteers to 34 state agencies this month. The volunteers asked for copies of the last travel reimbursement turned in by the agency's chief administrative officer. Nearly half of the agencies set requirements that appear to have violated the state's open government laws when filling requests. Still, most were cooperative.
The Tribune, conducting its own audit, found that most of the problems came at the front lines, where secretaries and assistants demanded names, affiliation or reasons for the requests. One agency said a request for cell phone records had to be put in writing, which is not the case.
First Amendment Foundation Director Adria Harper said the Tribune's audit results were typical.
"It seems the problem definitely is the front-desk person," she said. "They're just not educated on it."
Florida has a long history of public records laws, with the first law being passed in 1892. Open meeting laws were first passed in 1905. Since then, the state Legislature has approved many exemptions, further confusing the matter for some agencies.
Even with the exemptions, Florida has some of the strongest public records and open-meetings laws in the country.
Excuses, Exemptions
In the Tribune audit, some government agencies insisted on appointments before releasing records. Some pressed for names, affiliations and reasons for wanting to inspect records.
At Hillsborough Community College, auditors were asked to provide their name and identification.
At the Pasco County School District, workers from the personnel, communications and telecommunications department all pondered a request for cell phone records for Renalia DuBose, assistant superintendent for administration, before a secretary asked, "What's your name? Are you a parent? With a newspaper? Is there a reason?"
Eventually, DuBose herself said she would fulfill the request. About an hour later, she produced her cell phone bill.
Some of the exemptions cited were correct.
For example, a human resources supervisor at Hillsborough Community College said evaluations for Emery Alford, dean of academic affairs, could be released only by court order, the individual or the college president. Evaluations for community college officials do fall under a "limited access" portion of Statute 119.
Such exemptions are limited, though. Another HCC official said the last bill for Alford's college-issued cell phone was protected information.
"I can't just give you that information. I have to protect the employee."
No such exemption exists.
John Huerta, HCC's executive director for marketing and public information, said the employees should have directed the requests to him.
"I suspect this is such a rare occurrence that the information needs to at least every once in a while come out, whatever that frequency may be," Huerta said. "We make every effort to review the requests and to comply with the public records laws. We understand we are a public institution."
Some agencies insisted requests be put in writing.
At Pasco County's government center, a request for the cell phone records of Assistant Chief County Administrator Michele Baker resulted in trips to the communications office and county administrator's office, where a secretary called the legal department for advice. A senior legal secretary was adamant the request be in writing.
The requests do not have to be in writing, but spelling out parameters makes it easier for officials to fulfill requests, Pasco County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said.
"They were trying to help, but it could have been handled better," Steinsnyder said.
More Training Needed
After the Tribune's audit, several government officials said they would do a better job of training front-line employees.
Baker said personnel technicians are taught about public records laws, but training is lacking for other employees. She said the county is going to develop a class.
"We'll get it to all our front-line people and supervisors," Baker said. The Tribune audit, she said, "highlighted we need to do this training."
Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said her agency also would do additional training.
Employees periodically get public records training, but exemptions in the public records and federal health privacy laws often cause confusion. The county must redact information from certain records before releasing them, such as Social Security numbers, the addresses of code enforcement officers and firefighters, as well as private medical information.
"If we get a public records request, we usually send it to the county attorney's office," Bean said. "We have to make sure we don't screw up those" exemptions.
Pasco schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said the human resources department handles most public records requests and officials in the department are trained in public records laws. She didn't know why the Tribune's request was routed to communications rather than telecommunications.
Adding to the confusion, she said, was that requests for cell phone records are rare, and the communications department is without a director.
"Then there's always a red flag, let's be honest, when you don't want to give your name," she said.
Some Aced The Test
Some officials adequately handled public records requests.
Getting records at Tampa City Hall was relatively easy. The city requires all visitors to sign in and get a badge, but the personnel office did not require identification before producing the records.
One of the requests for Pasco's records on Baker also went smoothly, as did requests for records at New Port Richey City Hall and at the Hillsborough and Pasco sheriff's offices.
Doug Tobin, a public information officer with the Pasco sheriff's office, said he trains sergeants and corporals on media relations and public records laws.
He also gets trained, and that information filters down to many rank-and-file employees.
"A lot of people think you have to give your name," Tobin said. "It's a misconception out there."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com. Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.
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