Lawmakers Move to Carve Out Public Records Exemption for Teachers

A bill designed to protect teachers would exempt a school employees' name, photograph and other personal information from public records requirements.

“My concern is I don't want to wait until a child (gets a failing grade) … and a child goes ballistic or a parent goes ballistic and something impacts (a teacher) negatively,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.

The measure (HB 409) would exempt a school district employee’s name, social security number, home address, employment status, home telephone number, and photograph from the list of records that must be made public. It would also specifically exempt any information about the employee’s children.

Read more here.

Lawmakers Move to Carve Out Public Records Exemption for Teachers

A bill designed to protect teachers would exempt a school employees' name, photograph and other personal information from public records requirements.

“My concern is I don't want to wait until a child (gets a failing grade) … and a child goes ballistic or a parent goes ballistic and something impacts (a teacher) negatively,” said bill sponsor Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.

The measure (HB 409) would exempt a school district employee’s name, social security number, home address, employment status, home telephone number, and photograph from the list of records that must be made public. It would also specifically exempt any information about the employee’s children.

Read more here.

Florida Lawyers Not Happy About Email Address As Public Records

Gathered in a gray Miami conference room, a handful of lawyers sitting in front of laptops fumed about being betrayed.

The Florida Bar had sold them out -- hawking their e-mail addresses to third parties who filled their inboxes with unsolicited marketing posts they consider spam. At the Bar's midyear meeting, they debated what could be done.

"The Bar has taken the position that these are public records," said Ury Fischer, a Lott & Friedland shareholder in Coral Gables who has written The Bar repeatedly about the issue. An intellectual property lawyer with a degree in engineering, Fischer wrote The Bar last month to complain about what in his view was an invitation for abuse by marketers.

Read more at Law.com

Many Florida Pulbic Agencies Flunk Simple Open Records Test

TaMaryn Waters walked into the Jefferson County School District offices with a simple request: She wanted a copy of the most recent e-mail the superintendent sent school board members about the district budget.

But it wasn't so simple. What she found was a staff that was confused and suspicious and a superintendent who didn't understand public record laws. Waters never told them who she was, but a week later the secretary called her and admitted the staff tracked her down by running her license plate number.

NEED TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT SOMEBODY?

You don't have to be a full-fledged private investigator to dig up basic info on your neighbors, co-workers or just about anyone else you know in the state.

Florida's public records allow for easy access to criminal records, many court documents, and property records.

Sure, the documents can help you snoop around, but more importantly, they can also keep you well-informed about the people you and your family come in contact with.

Most of the records are free and readily available online.

www.publicrecordswire.com

Hardee County, Florida Daily Arrest Log

View the list of daily arrests:

http://publicrecordswire.com/resources/show/hardee-county-fl-inmate-arrest-log