By Sophie Erber
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

Frances Hoelper was 60 years old when she was wrongfully arrested and charged with attacking a police officer. Although the Pinellas County resident was immediately cleared of wrongdoing, her mugshot is still accessible in public databases despite her attempts to have the photo removed.

On Sept. 24, Hoelper attended the First Amendment Foundation’s Sunshine Symposium in St. Petersburg in hopes of increasing her knowledge of public records and the laws that govern them.

The First Amendment Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing access to government business. President Barbara Petersen hosts regular seminars for a variety of citizens — lawyers, journalists and private investigators among them.

Petersen, who is also board secretary of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, has been dealing with Florida’s public records law since the mid-1990s. Her St. Petersburg presentation on the law ran for more than three hours. Among anecdotes Petersen shared was one about a Florida school board not allowing public comments.

“How can you have a participatory democracy if you don’t let the people speak?” Petersen said.

Petersen also noted during her presentation that nothing today is truly private. “Even voicemail is a public record,” Petersen says. “If you save them, or even transcripts of them, they immediately become public records.”

Although records cannot be destroyed legally before their minimum destruction date, many people at the conference shared stories of the hardship encountered when trying to view a document.

“Sometimes, newer people on staff don’t know exactly what is and what isn’t exempt, so it’s easier for them to just say, ‘No, you can’t have it.’ ”

Most attended the symposium for professional purposes. But Hoelper’s reason was more personal. After her 2006 arrest, Hoelper had trouble accessing public records related to her arrest from the State Attorney’s Office and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. She had even more trouble having some of those records expunged.

“I went through a trial. I was found not guilty immediately, and since then, I’ve been fighting the system, trying to get justice, real justice,” Hoelper said. “Even though I was found not guilty, my mugshot is still up on the sheriff’s website. I went before the chief justice in Pinellas County court and the judge wouldn’t allow them to take it down because he said it was public record.”

Frances said the judge lectured her in the courtroom. “This is what you people get for having your sunshine laws,” Hoelper remembered the judge saying as he pointed his finger at her.

Hoelper’s interest in Florida’s so-called sunshine laws only grew from there. “I’ve been more interested in the sunshine laws so I can get more information and learn things that would be of value to protect myself,” she said.

Following Petersen’s presentation, Florida Times-Union editorial writer Joe Adams explained how to do research and reporting using Florida’s public records. Adams is the author of The Florida Public Records Handbook and FCIR’s board treasurer.

“He gave a lot of good websites and tips,” Keith Steele, a private investigator from Bradenton, said of Adams. “That was worth the price of admission right there.”

Without access to public records, Steele’s job would be impossible.

“The majority of my job is accessing public records — records that are held by government entities and agencies,” he said. “That’s the bread and butter of what I do, as far as gathering information and facts.”

For Steele, the Sunshine Symposium was a way to learn about the newest exemptions and ways around them. Although he has known Petersen for years, Steele said he always learns something new from the seminars.

“Barbara’s always great,” Steele said “She’s forgotten half of what most people would ever know. I’ve called her on numerous occasions, and she’s always exceptionally helpful.”

Throughout the years, Steele has seen an exponential increase in the amount of exemptions to Florida’s open records law — something Petersen emphasized in her discussion.

“I started this business in the late ‘70s, my own in ’81,” Steele said. “And back then, you could pretty much fold Florida Statute 119 (the records law) and stick it in your shirt pocket. Now they’ve got a book full. It went from about 250 pages in the ‘80s to 1,080 today. So I’ve definitely had a harder time accessing records.”

But private investigators and journalists aren’t the only ones who need reliable access to public records. Accessing records can important for all Florida residents. “Even if you’re just trying to look up a doctor’s history,” Adams said.

“I would like to have every citizen in Pinellas County attend this conference,” Hoelper said. “Once you can start documenting things and you know where to look, at least you have half a chance and you’re not totally run off. And I refuse to give up.”

10 Tips for Records Requests According to the Florida Bar Media Law Committee

  • Put requests in writing
  • Ask to inspect unfamiliar or voluminous records.
  • Agree to pay the 15 cents per page in advance for documents only a few pages long.
  • Ask for a citation to any exemption.
  • Ask for a written explanation of denial.
  • As for prompt acknowledgement and response.
  • Be willing to take one bite at time.
  • Be willing to negotiate
  • Make practice requests.
  • Don’t give up!