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Eustis commission declines to adopt standardized public‑record search certification after debate on necessity
Summary
After a focused debate about whether a standardized certification form duplicates state sunshine‑law protections, the commission moved to deny Resolution 25‑102 by a 3‑to‑1 straw poll; staff argued the form documents due‑diligence searches of personal devices in public‑records requests.
The City Commission considered Resolution 25‑102, which would adopt a standardized public‑record search certification and procedures to document good‑faith searches of personal devices and accounts when responding to public records requests.
City counsel and staff explained the form is intended as an administrative mechanism to document due‑diligence steps and to remind employees and elected officials of deletion and preservation obligations when records may exist on personal phones, text messages or private accounts. Staff cited case law interpreting the Sunshine Law that requires reasonable efforts to locate responsive records.
Several commissioners argued the state Sunshine Law and existing statutes already govern search and disclosure obligations, and worried that an extra city‑level form could be redundant or be interpreted as an additional administrative burden. Commissioner (speaker 2) raised the point that a previous commissioner suggested state law already provides explicit guidance. After discussion, and with one commissioner absent, the commission conducted a straw poll on a motion to deny the resolution; the tally was three in favor of denial, one opposed (Mayor Hawkins). The commission proceeded on the basis of that straw poll and did not adopt Resolution 25‑102 at the meeting.
What’s next: Staff may revise the administrative procedure or bring clarifying language back to the commission; commissioners requested additional review time and the opportunity for the absent commissioner to weigh in via the commission’s straw‑poll process.
