This week is Sunshine Week, the American Society of News Editors’ annual celebration of open government and freedom of information in the nation. In that spirit, we’re sharing guidelines related to the Sunshine Law in Florida.
Florida is one of only a handful of states that has both a constitutional and statutory right of access to the meetings and records of its government. The state’s open meetings and public records law, commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, has three basic requirements:
- Meetings of public agencies must be open to the public
- Reasonable notice of such meetings must be given
- Minutes must be taken
While there are some exemptions to open meetings, a person who is denied access should demand the statutory citation that would allow a meeting to be closed.
Taken from Florida’s Sunshine Laws: Open Meetings, a self-directed course by Barbara Petersen developed in partnership with the First Amendment Foundation at Poynter NewsU.
