The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nations and organizations across the world to take emergency action to safeguard public health. Courts, public schools and colleges, municipalities, and other agencies throughout Florida, and across the nation, have temporarily closed office buildings, suspended or reduced operations, and instituted work from home policies. Federal, state, and local governments have requested that residents practice social distancing, and some states have even implemented “stay-at-home” orders.

Notwithstanding these unprecedented times, agencies continue to have an obligation to acknowledge and respond to public records requests. Florida’s Public Records Act requires public records custodians to “acknowledge requests to inspect or copy records promptly and respond to such requests in good faith.” Fla. Stat. Section 119.07. A delay in responding to a public records request can amount to a violation of the Public Records Act if it is “unjustified.”  Notably, a delay “does not in and of itself create liability” under the Public Records Act, reasonable delay is permissible. See Siegmeister v. Johnson, 240 So. 3d 70, 73 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), reh’g denied (Mar. 28, 2018), review denied, No. SC18-637, (Fla. July 5, 2018). Where delay is at issue, courts determine whether the delay in responding to public records requests was justified by analyzing the facts of the particular case. In analyzing the delay, courts often look to the amount of time between the receipt of the request and production of public records and the reason for the delay.

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