Can a Florida school district delay releasing payroll records so employees can claim exemptions?

Plain-English summary

This short letter is a companion to AGO 2009-11. The Gulf County superintendent asked the Attorney General's office two things: how far the payroll-deduction-records exemption in section 1012.31(3)(a)4. reaches, and whether the district could give employees a reasonable chance to assert exemptions before releasing records in response to a public records request.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Gerry Hammond enclosed AGO 2009-11, which addressed the scope question (payroll deduction records, including tax withholding, are confidential). On timing, the answer was narrower than the district may have hoped. The Public Records Law has no fixed deadline, but the Florida Supreme Court has held that the only delay it permits is the limited, reasonable time a records custodian needs to retrieve the record and redact the portions it claims are exempt. Section 1012.31 contains no general provision letting a district delay producing personnel files so employees can object. The one built-in delay is specific: derogatory material in an employee's file is not open to inspection until 10 days after the employee has been notified.

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.

Common questions

Q: How quickly must a Florida agency respond to a records request?
A: There is no set number of days. The law requires the custodian to acknowledge requests promptly and respond in good faith, and the only permitted delay is the limited reasonable time needed to pull the records and redact exempt portions.

Q: Can a school district hold records so employees can object first?
A: Generally no. The letter found nothing in section 1012.31 authorizing a general delay to let employees assert exemptions. The custodian makes the redaction decisions within that limited reasonable time, rather than pausing for employee input.

Q: Is there any built-in waiting period for employee records?
A: Yes, one. Section 1012.31(3)(a)3. keeps derogatory material in an employee's file closed until 10 days after the employee is notified. That is a specific statutory delay, not a general right to hold records.

Q: Are the tax and deduction figures themselves public?
A: No. As AGO 2009-11 (enclosed with this letter) explained, payroll deduction records are confidential and exempt under section 1012.31(3)(a)4., so they are redacted rather than released.

Background and statutory framework

The timing principle comes from Tribune Company v. Cannella, where the Florida Supreme Court read Chapter 119 to permit only the limited reasonable time a custodian needs to retrieve a record and delete exempt portions. There is no general grace period for notifying affected employees or letting them litigate exemptions before disclosure; the custodian acts, and a requester who disagrees can go to court.

Section 1012.31 layers school-specific rules on top. It treats personnel files (broadly defined in subsection (4)) as public, then exempts certain contents, payroll deduction records under subsection (3)(a)4., and it sets one explicit delay in subsection (3)(a)3. for derogatory material, tied to advance notice to the employee. The letter's bottom line: the district redacts the confidential deduction records and produces the rest within a reasonable time, rather than delaying the whole response.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• s. 1012.31, Fla. Stat. (school personnel files), incl. subsections (3)(a)3., (3)(a)4., and (4)
• s. 119.07(1), Fla. Stat. (inspection and copying)

Cases:

• Tribune Company v. Cannella, 458 So. 2d 1075 (Fla. 1984)

Also referenced: AGO 2009-11 (scope of the payroll-deduction-records exemption), enclosed with this letter.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/records-school-employee-deduction-records-delay
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1778

Original opinion text

Mr. Tim Wilder

Superintendent, Gulf

County School District

150 Middle School Road

Port St. Joe, Florida 32456

Dear Mr. Wilder:

On behalf of yourself and the Gulf County School Board, you have asked this office for assistance in determining the scope of the exemption for payroll deduction records contained in section 1012.31(3)(a)4., Florida Statutes. This provision states that "[t]he payroll deduction records of an employee shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1)." Thus, pursuant to the statute, payroll deduction records are confidential and exempt from the production and copying mandate of Florida's Public Records Law.

Section 1012.31(3)(a), Florida Statutes, provides that public school system employee personnel files are subject to the Public Records Law and provides a number of specific exemptions for particular information that may be contained in a personnel file. The phrase "personnel file" is defined for purposes of the statute as:

"all records, information, data, or materials maintained by a public school system, in any form or retrieval system whatsoever, with respect to any of its employees, which is uniquely applicable to that employee whether maintained in one or more locations."[1]

I am enclosing a copy of Attorney General Opinion 2009-11 which was recently issued by this office and discusses the exemption from the Public Records Law for payroll deduction records set forth in section 1012.31(3)(a)4., Florida Statutes.

With regard to your question relating to the authority of the Gulf County School District to provide employees with a reasonable opportunity to assert exemptions prior to releasing these records for inspection and copying, the Public Records Law requires that the custodian of public records acknowledge requests to inspect or copy records promptly and to respond to such requests in good faith. The Public Records Act, does not contain a specific time limit for compliance with public records requests. However, the Florida Supreme Court has stated that the only delay in producing records permitted under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, "is the limited reasonable time allowed the custodian to retrieve the record and delete those portions of the record the custodian asserts are exempt."[2]

Likewise, section 1012.31, Florida Statutes, contains no general provision authorizing a delay in the production of personnel files and the contents thereof. However, section 1012.31(3)(a)3., states that "[n]o material derogatory to an employee shall be open to inspection until 10 days after the employee has been notified pursuant to paragraph (2)(c)."

I trust that these informal comments and the copies I am enclosing will be helpful to you and the attorney for the school board in responding to this Public Records Request.

Sincerely,

Gerry Hammond

Senior Assistant Attorney General

GH/tsh

Enclosure: AGO 2009-11

[1] Section. 1012.31(4), Fla. Stat.

[2] See Tribune Company v. Cannella, 458 So. 2d 1075, 1078 (Fla. 1984), appeal dismissed sub nom., DePerte v. Tribune Company, 105 S.Ct. 2315 (1985).