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City clerk explains public-records process, minutes and retention policies
Summary
City Clerk Joyce Raftery told Citizens Academy attendees about the clerk’s role in elections, agendas, minutes, records retention and public-records requests and described cost and timing rules the office follows.
Joyce Raftery, City Clerk for the City of Deltona, described the clerk’s duties at the Citizens Academy, saying the clerk’s office manages municipal elections, agendas and minutes, boards and committees, records management and public-records requests. "The term clerk came from the Latin clericus and referred to 1 who could read, write, and who could therefore serve as a notary, secretary, and accountant, and recorder," Raftery said while outlining historical duties and modern responsibilities.
Raftery explained minutes practices and public-records law. "Minutes should tell what was done and not what was said," she said, describing action minutes, conversational minutes and verbatim minutes and saying Deltona’s practice falls in between those forms. She referenced Florida statutes on public records and open meetings while explaining that the clerk’s office serves as the filing officer for municipal elections and performs a ministerial review of qualifying papers.
Details of records management included that retention schedules vary by document type and are determined by the State of Florida’s general records schedule; some records may be retained until litigation concludes. She said the clerk’s office performs records-scanning and coordinates disposal after sign-off and has a records manager on staff. Raftery stated her office comprises five employees, including two part-time receptionists.
Raftery walked attendees through the public-records request process, including cost and timing. She said the city’s public-records policy follows state law and local practice: the first 15 minutes of staff time to process a request are free; duplication costs are charged at 15 cents per page (20 cents per page for double-sided), and staff time for retrieval is included in charges. She said the clerk’s office sends requests to the relevant department, and departments have a two-day window to respond to the clerk’s office with materials or status updates.
Attendees asked whether records could be posted proactively online to reduce requests. Raftery said many records that do not require redaction—ordinances, resolutions, agendas and minutes—are published and could be made more accessible, but that some requested records require review and redaction before release. She also cautioned that creating a new record in response to a request can create retention obligations.
The presentation was informational; Raftery did not propose new local policy during the session. Attendees were directed to the State of Florida general records schedule for retention guidance and told to use the city’s public-records portal for requests.
