What are the open-meeting rules for a Florida state college board of trustees?

Plain-English summary

This was an unsolicited informal letter from the Attorney General's Office to the Board of Trustees of Northwest Florida State College. The office had heard concerns that recent board actions raised questions about whether meetings were open, properly noticed, held in an accessible place, and recorded in minutes. One reported event stood out: the board noticed and held a trustees' meeting in Tallahassee, away from the Niceville campus. Attorney General Bill McCollum stopped short of making a formal finding on past actions, but said that the way the Tallahassee meeting was noticed and held was very questionable and could easily be read to violate Chapter 286.

The letter then walked the board through the three basic requirements of the Sunshine Law in section 286.011: meetings of public boards must be open to the public, reasonable notice must be given, and minutes must be taken and promptly recorded. It reminded the trustees that the law is construed to frustrate evasive devices, that a board cannot meet at a place that restricts public access, and that "reasonable" notice means notice that actually lets interested people attend. It closed by noting that knowing violations are a second-degree misdemeanor handled by the State Attorney, and that other violations can draw a noncriminal fine of up to $500.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2009. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

As the governing board of a state college, the trustees are plainly subject to Chapter 286. Section 286.011 sets the three core duties. On openness, the letter cited Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison for the principle that the Sunshine Law is construed "so as to frustrate all evasive devices." Section 286.011(6) bars holding meetings at a facility that discriminates by sex, age, race, creed, color, origin, or economic status, or that unreasonably restricts public access, and the office had read that to forbid meeting places with limited access or a chilling effect on attendance.

On notice, the AG explained that reasonable notice means notice given at a time and in a manner that lets interested members of the public attend. He pointed to Rhea v. School Board of Alachua County, where a school board meeting noticed locally but held about 100 miles away at an Orlando hotel was held to violate the Sunshine Law; the court used a balancing test and found the board's convenience did not outweigh the public's interest in attending. On minutes, section 286.011 requires that they be promptly recorded and open to inspection. Because "promptly" and "minutes" are undefined, the letter applied the plain-meaning rule from Sieniarecki v. State, treating "prompt" as without delay and "minutes" as a brief summary of events rather than a verbatim transcript. Enforcement runs through the State Attorney: a knowing violation under section 286.011(3)(b) is a second-degree misdemeanor, and section 286.011(3)(a) makes a violation a noncriminal infraction punishable by a fine up to $500.

Common questions

Q: Can a Florida college board hold its meeting far from campus?
A: The letter treated a Tallahassee meeting of a Niceville-based college board as very questionable. Citing Rhea v. School Board of Alachua County, the AG noted that a meeting noticed locally but held far away can violate the Sunshine Law if it denies the public a reasonable chance to attend.

Q: What three things does the Sunshine Law require of a public board?
A: Under section 286.011, meetings must be open to the public, reasonable notice must be given, and minutes must be taken and promptly recorded and open to inspection.

Q: Do the minutes have to be a word-for-word transcript?
A: No. The office read "minutes" to mean a brief summary or set of notes reflecting what happened, not a verbatim transcript.

Q: What happens if a board violates the Sunshine Law?
A: A knowing violation is a second-degree misdemeanor prosecuted by the State Attorney under section 286.011(3)(b). Section 286.011(3)(a) also makes a violation a noncriminal infraction with a fine up to $500.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Ch. 286, Fla. Stat. (Government in the Sunshine)
• s. 286.011, Fla. Stat. (open meetings, notice, and minutes)
• s. 286.011(6), Fla. Stat. (no discriminatory or access-restricting meeting facility)
• s. 286.011(2), (3)(a), (3)(b), Fla. Stat. (minutes; noncriminal and criminal penalties)

Cases:

• Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 1974), Sunshine Law construed to frustrate evasive devices
• Rhea v. School Board of Alachua County, 636 So. 2d 1383 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), distant meeting location violated the notice requirement
• Sieniarecki v. State, 756 So. 2d 68 (Fla. 2000), plain-meaning construction of undefined terms

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/government-in-the-sunshine-college-board-meetings
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1787

Original opinion text

Board of Trustees

Northwest Florida State College

100 College Boulevard

Niceville, Florida 32578

Dear Members of the Board,

It has come to the attention of this office that concerns have been raised about the notice and procedural requirements of the Florida Sunshine Law as applied to the board meetings of Northwest Florida State College. More specifically, it has been reported that recent board actions call into question the public nature of board meetings, the public notice of board meetings, the location of board meetings, and the recording of the minutes of the board.

The Attorney General's role is to educate certain government officials and to facilitate resolution of disputes over the interpretation of the Sunshine Law and access to public records. Consistent with those duties yet while making no formal determination with regard to previous actions of the board, it appears upon review, based on reported information, that the manner in which the college noticed and held a meeting of trustees in Tallahassee is very questionable and could easily be interpreted to contravene Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes.

As the board of trustees for a state college, you are clearly subject to the provisions of Chapter 286. In an effort to provide the trustees with guidance regarding meetings of the board, we offer the following information.

There are three basic requirements of section 286.011, Florida Statutes: 1) meetings of public boards must be open to the public, 2) reasonable notice of the meetings must be given, and 3) minutes of the meetings must be taken and promptly recorded. This office recognizes that these requirements will depend on the facts and circumstances at hand, however, it should be noted that as stated by the Supreme Court of Florida in Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473, 477 (Fla. 1974), the Sunshine Law is to be construed "so as to frustrate all evasive devices."

Section 286.011(6), Florida Statutes, specifically prohibits public boards from holding meetings "at any facility or location which discriminates on the basis of sex, age, race, creed, color, origin, or economic status or which operates in such a manner as to unreasonably restrict public access to such a facility." Thus, this office has stated that a public agency may not hold its meetings in a facility where the public has limited access or where there may be a "chilling" effect on the public's willingness to attend.

The Sunshine Law requires that "reasonable" public notice be given. This office has stated that "reasonable notice" contemplates that an agency will give notice at such time and in such manner as will enable interested members of the public to attend the meeting if they wish to do so. In 1994, the First District Court of Appeal in Rhea v. School Board of Alachua County, 636 So. 2d 1383 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), held that a meeting of the Alachua County School Board which was noticed in the local newspaper but held 100 miles away at a hotel in Orlando constituted a violation of the Sunshine Law. The court in this case declined to adopt a bright line test on this issue, instead applying a balancing test to the facts at hand. The court held that the advantage of eliminating travel time and expense to the board did not outweigh the interest of the public in having a reasonable opportunity to attend.

Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, specifically requires that minutes of a public meeting be "promptly recorded" and open to public inspection. The term "promptly" is not defined for purposes of the statute, nor is it defined by any relevant case law. As stated by the Florida Supreme Court in Sieniarecki v. State, 756 So. 2nd 68, 75 (Fla. 2000), in the absence of a statutory definition, words of common usage are construed in their plain and ordinary sense. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (2003) defines "prompt" as done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay. The term "minutes" is not defined in the statutes for the purposes of section 286.011(2), but this office has concluded that the term means a brief summary or series of brief notes or memoranda reflecting the events of public meetings in written form. They do not need to be verbatim transcripts of the meeting.

Violations of Sunshine Act fall within the purview of the State Attorney's Office. Any member of a board or commission of any state agency or authority of a county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision who knowingly violates the Sunshine Law is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree. Section 286.011(3)(b), Florida Statutes. In addition, section 286.011(3)(a), Florida Statutes, imposes noncriminal penalties for violations of the Sunshine Law by providing that any public officer violating the provisions of the Sunshine Law is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding $500. The state attorney may pursue such noncriminal actions on behalf of the state.

I trust that this information will prove helpful. Please do not hesitate to call my office with questions about Sunshine and Public Records Law compliance in the future.

Sincerely,

Bill McCollum

Attorney General

cc: The Honorable Glenn Hess

State Attorney, Fourteenth Judicial  Circuit



The Honorable William 'Willie" N. Meggs

State Attorney, Second Judicial Circuit