Board of County Com'Rs v. Colby
| Citation | 976 So.2d 31 |
| Decision Date | 25 January 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 2D05-5348.,2D05-5348. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Parties | The BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHLANDS COUNTY, Florida; Carl E. Cool, Sr., as Highlands County Administrator, agency head, and statutory records custodian; Sarah Beth Hopton, as Designated Records Custodian for the Board of County Commissioners; William Nichols, Highlands County Emergency Management Director as actual records custodian, Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v. Preston H. COLBY, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. |
J. Ross Macbeth, Sebring, for Appellants/Cross-Appellees.
James F. McCollum of James F. McCollum, P.L., Sebring, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
In this case, we approve Highlands County's formula for calculating its special service charge for responding to extensive public records requests. We hold that the cost of labor, which is the statutorily prescribed basis for the charge, may include both salary and benefits. Accordingly, the circuit court's ruling to the contrary is reversed. We affirm the final judgment in all other respects, including that portion which approved the County's policy of requiring an advance deposit.
The main legal issue requires our de novo review on a question of statutory construction. See BellSouth Telecomms., Inc. v. Meeks, 863 So.2d 287, 289 (Fla. 2003). For this reason, there are very few facts directly relevant to our decision. Just the same, we find it worthwhile to describe the background to this dispute.
When attending a 2005 hurricane preparedness workshop hosted by Highlands County, Preston Colby learned of a group of local government officials and employees that had met during the 2004 hurricane season. This group, referred to in the workshop as the Hurricane Executive Decision Group, consisted of representatives from several county departments, the three municipalities in Highlands County, the sheriff's office, and the school board.1 Colby was particularly concerned about whether the group was a collegial body subject to the government-in-the-sunshine laws.2 In response to Colby's inquiry at the meeting, the County's emergency management director, Bill Nichols, allegedly stated that minutes had been kept but the meetings had not been noticed.3 In fact, the County had four file boxes of documents relating to the group's activities during the 2004 hurricane season.
Colby asked for documents related to the Hurricane Executive Decision Group, making his request around 11:00 a.m. Colby was no stranger to the public records, and he made his request to the county's public information officer as he had been asked to do previously. In response, Colby received a faxed letter from Tom Portz, an assistant county administrator. Portz's letter set forth the County's understanding that Colby was requesting "copies of all meeting notices, minutes, and notes, including any sign-in sheets, from the executive decision group meetings, which took place in preparation for the 2004 hurricane season." (Emphasis supplied.) Portz explained that Colby's request would require extensive research to locate the responsive documents. He further explained the County's policy of assessing a special service charge when responding to public records requests that required extensive research. Portz calculated that the charge would be $65.12 based on the cost of a designated employee's salary and benefits ($16.28 per hour) multiplied by the estimated time to complete the work (four hours). According to Portz's letter, Colby was required to deposit this sum before the County would begin researching his request.
Colby had two reactions upon reading the assistant county administrator's letter. First, he noted that Portz incorrectly stated that he was seeking copies of the records when, instead, he wanted to examine the documents before deciding what to copy.4 Second, Colby did not believe that the County was legally allowed to charge for permitting inspection of public records. Although it was around 5:00 or 5:30 p.m., Colby immediately went to the county government center to raise these objections. Portz had already left for the day, so Colby dealt with the public information officer, Sarah Beth Hopton. Colby paid the deposit but complained that the County lacked authority to assess the service charge. Hopton replied that he could sue her if he did not like it. This pretty much ended the conversation, and Colby never communicated to the County that he wanted to inspect the documents rather than receive copies.5
The next day Colby did just as the public information officer had suggested: he filed a public records suit against the County, naming in addition Carl E. Cool, Sr. (the county administrator), Hopton, and Nichols. In his verified complaint, Colby alleged that he wanted only to examine the records, that the County failed to make the records available to him, and that the County required him to prepay before locating the records. In his prayer for relief, Colby asked for an order to show cause, an immediate hearing, an order requiring the County to make the records available for inspection and enjoining the County from demanding payment for the inspection of records, the removal from office of the public records custodian, and an award of his suit costs.
That same day, Colby delivered a copy of the complaint to the county attorney's office. At that time, the county attorney gave Colby copies of documents that he said were responsive to Colby's request. Colby accepted the documents, which were 28 pages of handwritten notes; there were no formal minutes, meeting notices, or sign-in sheets from the group's meetings. The county attorney also offered a partial refund because the research took only two hours and forty minutes, which was less than estimated.6 Colby refused the refund. Finally, the county attorney told Colby that the files were available for his inspection at any time he wished. Colby, however, did not want to look through the boxes of files, and he has never availed himself of this opportunity, although he continues to complain that the County has failed to satisfy his public records request.7
As mandated by the public records law, the circuit court held a hearing in short order. See § 119.11, Fla. Stat. (2004) (). Portz and Colby offered the only testimony. In its final judgment, the circuit court ruled that the County was not allowed to include the cost of employee benefits when calculating the labor cost for the special service charge. By implication, the court also ruled that the County was allowed to collect an estimate of the charge in advance. The County appeals the former ruling and Colby cross-appeals the latter. Colby also complains that the County failed to justify the necessity for research to locate the records and to assess the special service charge when Colby wanted only to examine the records.
In Florida, access to public records is a matter of such importance that it is constitutionally guaranteed. Art. I, § 24(a), Fla. Const. Even before this constitutional provision was adopted in 1992, there were statutes providing access to public records. See State v. City of Clearwater, 863 So.2d 149, 152 (Fla.2003) (). At the same time, Florida has long required those who seek such records to defray the extraordinary costs associated with their requests. At issue today is the scope of the County's authority to charge a fee under Florida law permitting a records custodian to assess a "special service charge" when "the nature or volume of public records requested to be inspected or copied ... is such as to require extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by personnel of the agency involved, or both." § 119.07(4)(d). This charge is in addition to the cost of duplication, which may also be charged to the person requesting the copies. § 119.07(4). The special service charge
shall be reasonable and shall be based on the cost incurred for such extensive use of information technology resources or the labor cost of the personnel providing the service that is actually incurred by the agency or attributable to the agency for the clerical and supervisory assistance required, or both.
The County has adopted a policy to the same effect as the statute. While chapter 119 does not define "extensive" or "labor cost," the County's policy defines "extensive" as a public records request that "will take more than 15 minutes to locate, review for confidential information, copy and refile the requested material."8 In such circumstances, the County's policy provides that the charge "will be computed to the nearest quarter of an hour exceeding 15 minutes based on the current rate of pay for the paygrade of the person who performed the service[.]" The County has also adopted a fee schedule that calculates the labor cost by multiplying the research time by the responding employee's hourly wage and benefits. As mentioned, the circuit court held that it was improper to include the employee's benefits in the labor cost calculation.
The purpose of statutory construction is to give effect to the legislature's intent. In attempting to discern legislative intent, we must first look to the actual language used in the statute. BellSouth Telecomms., 863 So.2d at 289. Notably, the statute at issue here employs the term "labor cost," the plain meaning of which is more inclusive than the words "wages" or "salary." That benefits may be a significant component of labor costs is widely understood.9 Thus, as the County points out, in another context the legislature has defined the term "direct labor cost" to mean, in part, an amount not less than "the cost of one employee's salary and benefits." § 526.303(4), Fla. Stat. (2004) (the Motor Fuel...
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