City of Jacksonville

Public Records May be Inspected by Anyone

"It is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person. Providing access to public records is a duty of each agency." [Chapter 119.01 (1)]

Definition of a Public Record

How to File a Request for Public Records

It is important to note that all requesters may remain anonymous when asking for public records and they do not have to put their request in writing or state why they want the record. To ensure that records are provided in the most efficient manner possible, requests will be fulfilled through the methods outlined below:

Public/General Citizenry Requests

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CANNOT PROCESS PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS FOR JACKSONVILLE SHERIFF'S OFFICE (JSO) OR FOR THE CITY OF JACKSONVILLE. WE CAN ONLY PROCESS PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS FOR POLICE AND FIRE PENSION FUND RECORDS.

Here are some ways to request a public record from the Police and Fire Pension Fund:

• Email the request to Deputy Director Steve Lundy at SLundy@coj.net.
• File the request in person with Deputy Director Steve Lundy at our offices located at 1 West Adams Street, Suite 100, Jacksonville, FL 32202.
• Call Deputy Director Steve Lundy at 904-255-7373 to file the request.
• File the request by calling 630-CITY.
• Fax the request to the attention of Deputy Director Steve Lundy at (904) 353-8837.

Media-Generated Requests

Public Records Requests Related to a Lawsuit

Please submit records requests related to a lawsuit or pending litigation to the Attorney for the Police and Fire Pension Fund or the Executive Director - Plan Administrator Timothy H. Johnson at thjohnson@coj.net.

Contact information may be changed/updated without further Board of Trustee approval.

Costs of Public Records

Florida law authorizes the city to charge for the production of documents deemed to be public records. Providing more than a few documents for free, however, places a financial burden on the city that necessitates charging statutorily-authorized fees.

In light of the extremely high volume of requests, and due to current budget restraints, a standardized policy regarding the processing of public records and the related statutory fees is necessary. Outlined below is the city policy for providing copies of public records to a member of the public or the media.

Typically, public documents fall into two categories-- hard copy documents and electronically-stored information. If a request includes a combination of both hard-copy and electronic documents, the processing cost will include both components.

Hard Copy Requests

• For requests to review but not copy documents: The documents will be made available for the requester by a stated date, time and location communicated with the requester.

• For requests of copies of existing documents of 10 pages or less: The documents will be provided free of charge.

• For requests in excess of 10 pages: There will be a charge of $.20 per page for two-sided copies ($.15 per copy for one-sided copy) of documents not more than 8½ by 14 inches for every page greater than 10. This includes printed booklets, including Annual Budget books, Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, etc.

• The requester will be made aware of the anticipated cost associated with document production. The requester must agree to the estimate and authorize the city to proceed with document reproduction before reproduction will begin.

• Once document production is complete, an invoice will be provided to the requester reflecting the final cost. The requester must provide payment at the time they wish to pick up the requested dcocuments.

• Should the request require more than one-half hour (30 minutes) of employee time (to gather documents and copy them, for instance) the requester will also be charged for that time at the hourly rate of compensation for each employee involved, rounded down to the nearest half hour. Every effort should be made to ensure that the work is conducted by a qualified employee with the lowest hourly rate. The requester will be made aware of any anticipated costs related to document collection before the employee begins the process. The requester must agree to the estimate of charges and authorize the city to proceed with gathering documents before this process will begin. Once all documents are prepared, a final invoice will be provided to the requestor reflecting the actual amount of time it took and the associated cost. The requester must provide payment in full at the time they wish to pick up the documents.

• Should the documents require redaction of information exempt from Florida Statutes 119 prior to providing them for review, and the time to do this exceeds more than one-half hour (30 minutes) of employee time, the requester will also be charged for that time at the hourly rate of compensation for each employee involved, rounded down to the nearest half hour. The requester will be made aware of any anticipated costs related to redaction before an employee begins the process. The requester must agree to the estimate of charges and authorize the city to proceed with gathering documents before this process will begin. Once all documents are prepared, a final invoice will be provided to the requestor reflecting the actual amount of time it took and the associated cost. The requester must provide payment in full at the time they wish to pick up the documents.

Electronic Information Requests

IMPORTANT: The City of Jacksonville Information Technology Department (ITD) is budgeted as an Internal Service Fund. An Internal Service Fund is a fund used to account for the financing of goods or services provided by one department to other departments or agencies of the city, other governments or by the requester, on a reimbursable basis. In short, every action taken by ITD must be paid for by the organization or individual utilizing that service. Therefore, all electronic data will be provided utilizing prescribed costs outlined by ITD, which accounts for the actual cost of performing that service.

Exporting data from City of Jacksonville Software Applications/Operating Systems/Databases

• A great deal of data resides in a variety of software applications and operating systems that require training to use. In order to provide such data, it must be exported by ITD using prescribed, SPECIFIC parameters in coordination with the department/division that maintains the data.

• When such data is exported from an application, there is a possibility that the data may be inadvertently manipulated by pushing it into a new format (Example: data maintained in financial software that is exported to Excel). Therefore, following the export of the data by ITD, the information must be reviewed for accuracy by the department/division that maintains that data.

• Records will be provided in PDF or hard copy format. An attempt will always be made to e-mail the data to the requester to avoid additional charges.

• Cost: 
  • For each request requiring ITD resources, the cost is determined by the following factors:
    • Analyst time
    • Media (DVD, CD, etc.)
    • Paper Copies
    • System resource charge
  • Should the request involve more than one-half hour (30 minutes) of employee time (to validate raw data, or redact exempt information, for instance), then the requester will also be charged for that time at the hourly rate of compensation for each employee involved, rounded down to the nearest half hour, in addition to any ITD-related system processing charge.
  • The requester will be made aware of any anticipated costs associated with information production.

Emails

• Most emails to and from city officials are considered public records. In years past, when a request was received, employees were able to conduct searches within their own Outlook email systems to comply with the request. As server capacity has become strained, ITD now has a policy of archiving messages in an electronic vault storage system. Because of this process, an employee's search of his or her Outlook system may not produce all emails responsive to a request.

• As such, to ensure a complete and accurate response to public records requests for emails, all requests for email records will be recovered by ITD.

• When requesting that ITD pull information from the vault storage email system, the requester should specify if the search is related to key word or date periods. If they are requesting a key word search, the requester should provide the key words.

• If the response to the request results in a large quantity of emails, files will be saved to a CD/DVD to avoid unnecessary paper usage. However, emails may also be provided in hard copy format. (See applicable costs in "Hard Copy Requests" and "CDs/DVDs".)

• Cost:
  • For each request requiring ITD resources, the cost is determined by the following factors:
    • Analyst time
    • Media (DVD, CD, etc.)
    • Paper Copies
    • System resource charge
  • Should the request involve more than one-half hour (30 minutes) of non-ITD employee time (to redact exempt information, for instance), then the requester will also be charged for that time at the hourly rate of compensation for each employee involved, rounded down to the nearest half hour, in addition to any ITD-related system processing charge.
  • The requester will be made aware of any anticipated costs related to redaction before an employee begins the process. The requester must agree to the estimate of charges and authorize the city to proceed with gathering documents before this process will begin. Once all documents are prepared, a final invoice will be provided to the requestor reflecting the actual amount of time it took and the associated cost. The requester must provide payment at the time they wish to pick up the documents.

CDs/DVDs

• Cost:
  • For requests of one copy of a CD or DVD, the item should be provided free of charge. For additional copies, there should be a charge of $2 per CD and $5 per DVD.
  • Should the request involve more than one-half hour (30 minutes) of employee time (to locate an old file or transfer video from a VHS tape to DVD for instance), then the requester will also be charged for that time at the hourly rate of compensation for each employee involved, rounded down to the nearest half hour.
  • The requester will be made aware of any anticipated costs related to redaction before an employee begins the process. The requester must agree to the estimate of charges and authorize the city to proceed with gathering documents before this process will begin. Once all documents are prepared, a final invoice will be provided to the requestor reflecting the actual amount of time it took and the associated cost. The requester must provide payment at the time they wish to pick up the documents.

Fulfillment Time

• Public Records Requests will be acknowledged immediately, and responsive records will be provided to the requester as soon as possible, within a reasonable time frame.

Payment, Receipts and Handling of Money

• Payment MUST be made in the form of cash (exact change) or exact money order amount. While personal checks cannot be accepted, the city is able to process checks from businesses.

• The Police and Fire Pension Fund office will facilitate the monetary transaction and provide a receipt.

• Payments should be brought to the Police and Fire Pension Fund office located at 1 West Adams St., Jacksonville, FL. 

Problem Resolution Office

• For public records requests related to the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund, please contact Deputy Director Steve Lundy at SLundy@coj.net or 904-255-7373.