Over the years, the definition of what constitutes “public records” has come to include not just traditional written documents such as papers, maps, and books, but also tapes, photographs, film, sound recordings, and records stored in computers.
Occasionally, the law precludes the disclosure of records or provides an exemption from mandatory disclosure. Florida Statute 119.071 lists the exemptions allowed under Florida law. Exemptions include but are not limited to certain personnel records, election records, education records, emergency/911 records, financial records, hospital and medical records, law enforcement records, victim information, etc. Records containing information that is exempt from disclosure may have that information redacted before release.
Any member of the public may request to view or pay for a copy of public records. Trust staff may ask you for information in response to a public records request, but you are not required to give us your name or any other identifying information such as address or telephone number. Also, you are not required to explain why you want the records. Please use this web form to place your records request.
Although the Trust encourages requests to be made using the web form, the Florida Public Records Law does not limit the ways in which requests can be made. Submitting a written request using the web form helps to avoid confusion and delay in responding to public records requests. Web requests submitted outside of the regular business hours will be considered received the next business day.
Other ways to submit a request include:You should provide as much specific information about the records as possible. If a request is not sufficiently specific, Trust staff may need to contact you to obtain further details. Please do *not* include sensitive information such as social security numbers.
Escambia Children’s Trust processes all records requests in accordance with the Florida Public Records Law. Trust staff will respond to all requests within calendar 10 days. However, it may not always be possible to fill requests for public records right away because records need to be reviewed first to see if they contain confidential information. Also, if the request is very large in scope, spans multiple departments, or requires additional preparation or review, it may require more time to process. Trust staff will notify you of any delay.
Escambia Children’s Trust will provide electronic copies of records through this web portal or via email, or physical copies can be mailed (a fee may apply). If a requester wishes to view original physical records, if available, an appointment must be made ahead of time to visit our office.
There is no fee for making a public records request. The Trust may, however, charge for the cost of duplication if a requester wishes to have a physical copy of records and will provide an estimate in advance. The requester must pay all fees before copies will be released.
The Trust provides access to existing public records in its possession. We will not create new records not currently in existence. The Florida Public Records Law does not require the Trust to create a record or compile a list in response to a request under the Public Records Law. We are only required to produce specifically identifiable records currently in existence.
The FOIA is a Federal Statute that does not apply to local government. The Florida Public Records Law was modeled after the FOIA. The Florida Public Records Law applies to all local government agencies in Florida.