Public records advocates won support on Wednesday for an amendment that defuses their concerns over a controversial bill targeting people who attempt to misuse the state’s public records laws to extort money from the government.
The compromise, worked out between the First Amendment Foundation, the League of Cities and the bill’s sponsor, Sen. René Garcia, R-Hialeah, reinstates the requirement in SB 1220 that a judge “shall” award attorney fees in lawsuits when governments violate the state public records laws.
The original proposal removed the requirement that judges award attorney fees and instead gave judges the discretion, prompting public records advocates to warn that it could gut the state’s Sunshine laws by removing the only tool — filing a lawsuit — the public has to seek redress when government officials violate the law.
