Volusia Forever members receive Florida Sunshine Law and public-records refresher

Good morning. Assistant County Attorney Sabrina Slack told the Volusia Forever Committee on April 4 that Florida's constitutional Sunshine Law requires meetings of collegial bodies to be open to the public and that members must avoid off-the-record deliberations.

Slack summarized three core requirements: meetings must be open to the public, reasonable notice must be provided, and minutes must be kept. She told the committee the county handles notice and minutes but emphasized that members must avoid any discussion of board business outside a properly noticed meeting, including email, text, phone calls and social-media exchanges.

Slack cautioned members that even seemingly casual communications can create a problem: "If you reply all, then you're replying all to everyone and you're discussing whether or not you're gonna be here, which could be a violation," she said. She warned that members should not ask staff to poll other members or summarize other members' positions, because doing so can violate the so-called liaison rule.

The presentation covered how nonverbal and digital exchanges can trigger violations. Slack said text messages or sidebar conversations about agenda matters are a common source of problems. She noted that, in addition to committee-level sanctions, Sunshine Law violations can lead to personal penalties: an unintentional violation can be a noncriminal infraction (up to $500), while knowing violations can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor with possible jail time, fines and costs.

On public-records law, Slack said the state's presumption favors disclosure: "Public records law is another constitutional right for every person to inspect or copy any public record made or received in connection with official business, unless it's confidential or otherwise exempt." She defined public records broadly to include emails, texts and documents on personal devices when they pertain to official business, and she advised members to forward any public-records request to staff immediately.

Slack described common exemptions (Social Security numbers, certain security plans and competitive solicitations) and explained redaction and fee practices. She said the county may charge for extensive staff time or production costs and can require a deposit when a request will impose substantial costs.

Committee members asked technical questions about "shade" (closed) meetings and fact-finding sessions; Slack said those are rare, tied to specific statutory exceptions such as litigation strategy or certain negotiations, and that any such meeting is strictly limited and typically transcribed and later made public once the exception expires.

The presentation closed with references to the Attorney General's Government in the Sunshine Manual and an invitation to contact the county attorney's office with questions. Slack offered to provide slides on request.