Florida Statute 119.021 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title X
PUBLIC OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND RECORDS

Chapter 119
PUBLIC RECORDS

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F.S. 119.021

119.021 Custodial requirements; maintenance, preservation, and retention of public records.—

(1) Public records shall be maintained and preserved as follows:

(a) All public records should be kept in the buildings in which they are ordinarily used.

(b) Insofar as practicable, a custodian of public records of vital, permanent, or archival records shall keep them in fireproof and waterproof safes, vaults, or rooms fitted with noncombustible materials and in such arrangement as to be easily accessible for convenient use.

(c)1. Record books should be copied or repaired, renovated, or rebound if worn, mutilated, damaged, or difficult to read.

2. Whenever any state, county, or municipal records are in need of repair, restoration, or rebinding, the head of the concerned state agency, department, board, or commission; the board of county commissioners of such county; or the governing body of such municipality may authorize that such records be removed from the building or office in which such records are ordinarily kept for the length of time required to repair, restore, or rebind them.

3. Any public official who causes a record book to be copied shall attest and certify under oath that the copy is an accurate copy of the original book. The copy shall then have the force and effect of the original.

(2)(a) The Division of Library and Information Services of the Department of State shall adopt rules to establish retention schedules and a disposal process for public records.

(b) Each agency shall comply with the rules establishing retention schedules and disposal processes for public records which are adopted by the records and information management program of the division.

(c) Each public official shall systematically dispose of records no longer needed, subject to the consent of the records and information management program of the division in accordance with s. 257.36.

(d) The division may ascertain the condition of public records and shall give advice and assistance to public officials to solve problems related to the preservation, creation, filing, and public accessibility of public records in their custody. Public officials shall assist the division by preparing an inclusive inventory of categories of public records in their custody. The division shall establish a time period for the retention or disposal of each series of records. Upon the completion of the inventory and schedule, the division shall, subject to the availability of necessary space, staff, and other facilities for such purposes, make space available in its records center for the filing of semicurrent records so scheduled and in its archives for noncurrent records of permanent value, and shall render such other assistance as needed, including the microfilming of records so scheduled.

(3) Agency final orders rendered before July 1, 2015, that were indexed or listed pursuant to s. 120.53, and agency final orders rendered on or after July 1, 2015, that must be listed or copies of which must be transmitted to the Division of Administrative Hearings pursuant to s. 120.53, have continuing legal significance; therefore, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any provision of chapter 257, each agency shall permanently maintain records of such orders pursuant to the applicable rules of the Department of State.

(4)(a) Whoever has custody of any public records shall deliver, at the expiration of his or her term of office, to his or her successor or, if there be none, to the records and information management program of the Division of Library and Information Services of the Department of State, all public records kept or received by him or her in the transaction of official business.

(b) Whoever is entitled to custody of public records shall demand them from any person having illegal possession of them, who must forthwith deliver the same to him or her. Any person unlawfully possessing public records must within 10 days deliver such records to the lawful custodian of public records unless just cause exists for failing to deliver such records.

History.—s. 2, ch. 67-125; s. 3, ch. 83-286; s. 753, ch. 95-147; s. 5, ch. 2004-335; s. 1, ch. 2015-155.

F.S. 119.021 on Google Scholar

F.S. 119.021 on Casetext

Amendments to 119.021

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 119.021

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

S119.021 - PUBLIC ORDER CRIMES - VIOL CUSTODIAL REQ MAINT PRESRV RETAIN PUB REC - M: F

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 119.021

Total Results: 20

Smith v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2015-09-11

Citation: 174 So. 3d 1077, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 13618, 2015 WL 5306184

Snippet: on October 10, 2003 and [in accord with section 119.021(2)(a), Florida Statutes] the physical file was

Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2015-07-15

Citation: 194 So. 3d 349, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 10778, 2015 WL 4269031

Snippet: not possess them before. 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36, 119, 21 L.Ed. 394 (1872) (Bradley, J., dissenting). And

Jesse Cleveland Harrell v. State of Florida

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2015-04-22

Citation: 162 So. 3d 1128, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 5849

Snippet: privacy interests. Knights, 534 U.S. at 119-21, 122 S.Ct. 587. Consequently, Knights’

Johnson v. Jarvis

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2011-11-16

Citation: 74 So. 3d 168, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 18128, 2011 WL 5560679

Snippet: delay, and was a violation of sections 119.07 and 119.021, Florida Statutes (2010), and Article I, section

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2011-09-21

Snippet: Company,372 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 1979). 4 Section 119.021(2)(a), Florida Statutes, requires the Division

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2009-08-26

Snippet: Unit should be delivered, pursuant to section 119.021(4), Florida Statutes, to the records custodian

Reese v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2009-04-29

Citation: 7 So. 3d 651, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 3854, 2009 WL 1149447

Snippet: his file in January of 2006. Pursuant to section 119.021(2), Florida Statutes (2007),[2] the file was destroyed

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2009-04-23

Snippet: the Public Records Law.7 Question Two Section 119.021(2)(a), Florida Statutes, requires the Division

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2008-02-26

Snippet: copying or inspection of public records). And see s. 119.021(4), Fla. Stat., providing: "(4)(a) Whoever has

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2007-02-27

Snippet: person who has custody of a public record.5 Section 119.021, Florida Statutes, prescribes the manner in which

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2005-04-28

Snippet: Records Law. Questions Three and Four Section 119.021(2)(a), Florida Statutes, requires the Division

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2005-02-09

Snippet: agency's computer, is not a public record. 3 See s. 119.021, Fla. Stat. 4 See 119.01, Fla. Stat., and 119.07(1)(a)

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Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 2004-09-14

Snippet: of Fla.; this language will be contained in s. 119.021(1)(a), see s. 5, Ch. 04-335, supra. 4 Section 119

Times Publishing Co. v. City of Clearwater

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2002-07-03

Citation: 830 So. 2d 844, 30 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2202, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 9414, 2002 WL 1426532

Snippet: official records custodian designated by section 119.021, Florida Statutes (2000), was required to review

In Re Amendment to Fla. Rules of Crim.

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-10-31

Citation: 683 So. 2d 475, 1996 WL 629322

Snippet: upon the custodian designated pursuant to section 119.021, Florida Statutes, and a copy of that request for

Puls v. City of Port St. Lucie

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-08-28

Citation: 678 So. 2d 514, 1996 WL 486562

Snippet: or not the custodian designated under section 119.021 was served with a records request is not germane

In re Amendment to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure-Capital Postconviction Public Records Production

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-04-25

Citation: 673 So. 2d 483, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 187, 1996 Fla. LEXIS 728, 1996 WL 196697

Snippet: upon the custodian designated pursuant to section 119.021, Florida Statutes, and a copy of that request for

McCall v. Alabama Bruno's, Inc.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1994-06-29

Citation: 647 So. 2d 175, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 6316, 1994 WL 284192

Snippet: Florida v. Emelwon, Inc., 393 U.S. 841, 89 S.Ct. 119, 21 L.Ed.2d 111 (1968); Midyette v. Madison, 559 So

Ocean Elec. v. Hughes Laboratories

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1994-04-12

Citation: 636 So. 2d 112, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 3353, 1994 WL 123599

Snippet: Peninsular Land, Transp. and Mfg. Co., 27 Fla. at 119-21, 9 So. at 679; Allied Van Lines, Inc. v. McKnab

Gartrell v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1992-11-25

Citation: 609 So. 2d 112, 1992 WL 341953

Snippet: unaffected by any other person. Frank, 199 So.2d at 119-21. The presumption vanishes, however, upon uncontradicted