Public Records Requests
Town of Orchid is fully committed to transparency. Per Chapter 119 Public Records of the Florida Statutes, it is the policy of the Town, that all public records shall be open for inspection and available for copying by any person desiring to do so, at any reasonable time, under reasonable conditions, and under supervision by the custodian of the public records.
What is a Public Record?
Public records are defined as any documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, data processing software, or other material, regardless of the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by the Town.
Custodian of Records
The Town has designated the Town Clerk as the Custodian of the Town's public records. Her contact information is at the bottom of the page.
The Custodian may designate another officer or employee of the Town to permit the inspection and copying of public records. The Building Clerk is designated to permit the inspection and copying of public records held within the building department. Every person who has custody of a public record shall permit the record to be inspected and examined by any person desiring to do so, at a reasonable time, under reasonable conditions, and under supervision by the custodian of the public records or a designee, except for those exemptions provided by law.
Confidential Records and Exemptions
Confidential records are not subject to inspection by the public and may be released only to those persons and entities designated in the Florida Statutes.
Exempt records are exempt from disclosure; the Town is prohibited from disclosing these records in all circumstances. Only the Town Attorney has the discretion to disclose exempt records. If the Town establishes that only part of a record is exempt, the custodian will redact (conceal) that portion of the record and permit the inspection and copying of the remainder of the record that is not exempt. If redaction is necessary, the Custodian may create a redacted copy for inspection, so as to protect the record copy from damage due to the redaction process. Whenever a record or portion thereof is exempt, the requester must be provided in writing with the basis and reason for the exemption and the statutory citation.
Requesting Exemption
If the Town holds a public record with information about you that is exempt, and you would like this information to be held exempt, you must notify the Custodian and submit a Public Records Exemption Request Form. This form is available upon request from the Town Clerk.
Making a Public Record Request
Any person may make a public records request in person, by telephone, or in writing. It is your right to remain anonymous and you are not required to provide any personal identifying information with your Public Records Request. Materials will be made available for pick-up at Town Hall, unless you request otherwise (you may direct staff to your preferred distribution). Please be mindful that if you prefer email or regular mail, then the Custodian will need your relevant contact information for distribution. The Custodian will make a good faith effort to estimate for you when the Public Records Request will be fulfilled.
The Custodian will consult with the Town Attorney on requests for which the law is ambiguous or unclear to ensure accurate and full response to Public Records Requests. It is the Custodian's duty and pleasure to provide you with access to and/or copies of Public Records.
Fees
In support of and in addition to Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes; the following policy is followed in regard to applicable fees charged by the Town of Orchid. The Custodian of public records shall provide the requester with a good faith estimate of fees, related to the public records request, in writing, in advance of fulfilling the request. Fees shall be charged per the following fee schedule:
- One-sided copy no larger than legal sized: $0.15 per page
- Two-sided copy no larger than legal sized: $0.20 per page
- Copies larger than legal sized: actual cost of duplication (Note: these are handled by a local print shop because the Town has no ability to handle them in-house.)
- Certified copy: $1 per record in addition to per page copy charge
- For copies onto a digital device, such as a USB stick, provided by the Town: the actual cost of the digital device
- Postage: actual cost of postage based on weight, size and delivery
In addition to the above fee schedule, when the nature or volume of public records requested to be inspected or copied requires extensive time on the part of the Town's staff (in a clerical or supervisory capacity) or a vendor, the Town may levy a special service charge based on the cost incurred by the use of the labor of the staff or vendor providing/preparing/supervising the public records.
If a public records request requires more than 30 minutes of Town staff's time in locating, reviewing, redacting (if applicable), and copying the requested material, then it is considered "requiring extensive time" per the above paragraph. The following fee schedule applies for the special service charge:
- The first 30 minutes are free of charge. The charge will be based on the rate of pay of the employee doing the actual work. If supervisor attention is needed, then the rate of pay of the supervisor is added.
- Although the Town has the legal authority to charge employee benefits in addition to time fulfilling/supervising a public records request, the Town of Orchid has elected to forego such charges in an effort to facilitate public access to Town records.
- Fees shall be deposited in the General Fund as Miscellaneous Income. A deposit in the amount of the estimated fees may be collected by the Town in advance of processing the public records request. The Custodian shall refund, to the requester, any amount paid in excess of the actual costs, at the time of distribution of the copies or inspection of the records, or as soon as possible thereafter. There is no refund for requestors who neglect to collect the requested copies or inspect the requested records. Once records are available in response to a request, they will remain available for 30 days, after which time the request is considered abandoned.
The Town Manager may choose to waive the fees if that is found to be in the best interest of the Town to do so.
What's online?
The Town is eager to provide easy access to information online that may be of interest to the public. Simply click to navigate to the correct page. Of course, you are very welcome and have the right to make a request for any of these and other records via a public records request also.
