HOME

Florida news org wins suit over duplication fees

The Florida news organization that sued a county clerk over excessive duplication fees has evidently prevailed.

Excerpts from the Watchdog City Press:

Brock had argued in court filings that as Clerk of Courts he is subject to Florida statute 28.24 and that he is allowed to charge up to $1 per page for records in his possession.

Judge Hardt wrote: “Under the facts in this case there is no conflict between Chapter 28 which governs the Clerk and Chapter 119 which governs access to public records. For documents stored in an electronic format, the Legislature has mandated that the authorized fee which may be charged by the Clerk for downloading the data on a computer disk may not exceed the cost of the disk. The cost of a computer disk does not exceed $1.00.

After Edwards published critical stories on Feb. 11, Brock charged $556, for 556 pages for electronic records on 2 CDs, saying as Clerk he is allowed to charge $1 per page for all records in his possession. Edwards filed the lawsuit challenging the fees on Feb. 25.

 

Read the entire article here.

 

Share this post: