Florida FOI logs (Department of Law Enforcement)

Thank you for contacting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Office of General Counsel. This message is being provided as confirmation your message was received. You should receive a response to your inquiry as soon as possible.

If you need criminal history records, please visit our website, http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Criminal-History-Records/Obtaining-Criminal-History-Information.aspx , and/or contact our Criminal History Services at BackgroundChecks@fdle.state.fl.us, or (850) 410-8161.

Public records requests are processed in the order that they are received. Processing time may be lengthened due to the nature and extent of the request. Searches may be negative and FDLE may not have records responsive to your public records request. You may also receive an invoice for your request depending on the nature and extent of your public records request. Please feel free to contact us at (850) 410-7676, or publicrecords@fdle.state.fl.us, if you have additional specific information relating to the records you are requesting, as this may help expedite your request and/or reduce costs that may be associated with the request.

Additional information regarding how to obtain public records including what costs may be applicable is contained from the hyperlink below. We are committed to our fundamental values of Service, Integrity, Respect, and Quality.

For Additional Information click http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/OGC/Public-Records.aspx<https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/OGC/Public-Records.aspx>

The PRR File# is PRR-2020-2926.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. Ciaramella

RE: Public Records Request Response, FDLE Docket No. PRR-2020-2926

Good-faith Deposit Invoice, $346.07

Copy any log or spreadsheet tracking public records requests received by the department, limited to requests received between Jan. 1, 2020 and Nov. 1, 2020.

NOTE: A courtesy copy of the log of new public records request confirmation numbers (i.e. docket numbers) is provided with this good-faith deposit invoice. The good-faith deposit invoice is for the log of the public records request descriptions for each of the Jan. 1, 2020 and Nov. 1, 2020 public records requests submitted to FDLE. Each of the 3,938 public records requests descriptions must be reviewed for confidential and exempt information, and then redacted, because customers regularly provide FDLE confidential information, such as social security numbers and sexual battery victim names, to aid in our department's research to identify responsive records. The review and redaction process requires significant agency resources.

Please regard this as a good-faith deposit invoice for $346.07 for your public records request based on the information you provided in your request.

A courtesy copy of the log of new public records request confirmation numbers (i.e. docket numbers) is provided with this good-faith deposit invoice. The good-faith deposit invoice is for the log of the public records request descriptions for each of the Jan. 1, 2020 and Nov. 1, 2020 public records requests submitted to FDLE. Each of the 3,938 public records requests descriptions must be reviewed for confidential and exempt information, and then redacted, because customers regularly provide FDLE confidential information, such as social security numbers and sexual battery victim names, to aid in our department's research to identify responsive records. The review and redaction process requires significant agency resources. These records are provided pursuant to Florida's Public Records Law, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes.

If the records provided with this good-faith deposit invoice satisfy your public records request, please let our office know and we will cancel the good-faith deposit invoice and no balance will be due.

The required good-faith deposit payment is to continue processing your public records request because your request requires extensive use of information technology resources, extensive clerical and/or extensive supervisory assistance. Costs are assessed pursuant to ss. 119.07(4)(a) and 119.07(4)(d), Florida Statutes (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes). An itemized deposit estimate is attached. This may not be the final amount due, but the best estimate of initial costs available at this time.

A "policy of requiring an advance deposit seems prudent given the legislature's determination that taxpayers should not shoulder the entire expense of responding to an extensive request for public records." "[T]he reasonableness of a policy and its application - based on the facts in a particular case - guides whether an abuse of discretion is shown." Morris Publishing Group, LLC v. State, 154 So.3d 528, 534 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015).

Should you wish to receive the records with the descriptions for each of the Jan. 1, 2020 and Nov. 1, 2020 public records requests submitted to FDLE, we will continue processing your public records request after our office receives your $346.07 good-faith deposit payment. You may receive additional deposit invoices once the balance of the original deposit payment has been expended.

Your request will be closed February 5, 2021 if we do not receive the balance due. If payment is not received the request will be closed without further action and no balance will be due.

Please remit a check or money order (we cannot accept credit or debit cards), in the amount of $346.07, with our docket number PRR-2020-2926, to:

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Office of the General Counsel

Attn: PRR-2020-2926

P.O. Box 1489

Tallahassee, FL 32302

If you have questions concerning your request, please contact us at (850) 410-7676 or publicrecords@fdle.state.fl.us<mailto:publicrecords@fdle.state.fl.us>.

An agency may refuse to produce additional records if the fees for a previous request for records have not been paid by the requestor. See Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, 995 so. 2d 1027(Fla. 4th DCA 2008) (s. 119.07[4], F.S., "does not require the City to do any more than what it did in this case," i.e., require Lozman to pay the bill for the first group of records he requested before the city would make any further documents available). Cf. AGO 05-28 (custodian authorized to bill the requestor for any shortfall between the deposit and the actual cost of copying the public records when the copies have been made and the requesting party subsequently advises the city that the records are not needed). Please visit the Sunshine Manual, http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MNOS-B9QQ79/$file/SunshineManual.pdf.

Sincerely,

Office of General Counsel

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Post Office Box 1489

Tallahassee, FL 32302-1489

(850) 410-7676

PublicRecords@fdle.state.fl.us<mailto:PublicRecords@fdle.state.fl.us>

Attachment

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