CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...petition for writ of mandamus, directing the City to provide to Miami New Times
copies of draft audit reports pertaining to two Miami Beach towing companies. We
quash the order on appeal because, under the plain and unambiguous statutory
language of section 119.0713(2)(b), Florida Statutes (2019), the draft audit reports
were not public records subject to disclosure.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
In December 2018, the Internal Auditor for the City of Miami Beach
commenced an internal audit of two Miami Beach towing companies....
...The draft audit reports were never finalized, nor
were they signed by the City Manager or presented to the City Commission.
Following termination of the City’s internal audit, Miami New Times again
requested a copy of the draft audit reports. The City again denied the request, based
on section 119.0713(2)(b), Florida Statutes (2019), providing that an audit report
and audit workpapers become a public record subject to disclosure only when the
audit is “complete and the audit report becomes final.” The City maintained that the...
...agency. The reporter published an article discussing the draft audit reports. Miami
New Times renewed its request to the City, asserting that, because there was “no
reasonable anticipation of resolution of the city’s audit,” the exemption under
section 119.0713(2)(b) did not apply, and the draft audit reports were subject to
disclosure....
...The City again denied the request, advising that because the internal
audit had not been completed and the draft audit reports were not final, they were
not subject to disclosure as public records.
Miami New Times petitioned for writ of mandamus, contending that the City
improperly relied on section 119.0713(2)(b) in denying the request for a copy of the
draft audit reports because the City investigation had been terminated and therefore
the reports were no longer exempt from disclosure as public records....
...Miami New
Times alternatively contended that if a statutory exemption applied, that exemption
was waived when the towing companies disclosed the draft audit reports to a third
party.
Following a hearing, the trial court determined that, even if the draft audit
reports were exempt from disclosure under section 119.0713(2)(b), any entitlement
to that exemption ceased to exist once those draft reports, provided by the City to
the auditee towing companies, were disclosed by the towing companies (and without
4
the City’s knowledge) to a third party....
...(providing: “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”) and provides various public
record exemptions, including those found in section 119.0713....
...“the Public Records Act is construed liberally in favor of openness, and exemptions
from disclosure are construed narrowly and limited to their designated purpose.”
Rameses,
29 So. 3d 421. The government also bears the burden to show that a
statutory exemption applies. Id.
Section
119.0713 provides that certain records of local government agencies
are treated as confidential or otherwise exempt from treatment as public records
under Chapter 119 and Article I, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution. For our
purposes, the pertinent portion of section
119.0713, governing audits and audit
reports, provides:
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The audit report of an internal auditor and the investigative report of
the inspector general prepared for or on behalf of a...
...I of the
State Constitution until the audit or investigation is complete and the
audit report becomes final or when the investigation is no longer active.
An investigation is active if it is continuing with a reasonable, good
faith anticipation of resolution and with reasonable dispatch.
§ 119.0713(2)(b) (emphasis added).
The highlighted portion of the statute is plain and unambiguous: An audit
report “becomes a public record” only “when the audit....
...I of the
State Constitution until the audit or investigation is complete and the
audit report becomes final or when the investigation is no longer
active. An investigation is active if it is continuing with a reasonable,
good faith anticipation of resolution and with reasonable dispatch.
§ 119.0713(2)(b) (emphasis added).
To the extent that the draft audit reports could be considered “audit
workpapers and notes,” the plain and unambiguous statutory language provides
those records remain “confidential and exempt from” disclosure “until the audit....
...ot become a
public record subject to disclosure because the audit was not complete and the audit
report was not final.
We reject Miami New Times’ invitation to construe an “audit” and an
“investigation” in identical fashion under section 119.0713(2)(b)....
...1993)).
It is undisputed that the City’s audit was not complete, and the audit report
had not been presented to the City Commission, when Miami New Times made its
public records requests. As a result, the draft audit reports were not subject to
disclosure under section 119.0713(2)(b)....
...oming subject to
disclosure as public records—a completed audit and a final audit report—had not
occurred.
We also reject Miami New Times’ alternative contention that, even if the draft
audit reports were exempt from disclosure under section 119.0713(2)(b), any
entitlement to that exemption vanished once those draft reports, provided by the City
to the auditee towing companies, were disclosed (without the City’s knowledge or
consent) by the towing companies to a third party.
To support its contention, Miami New Times relies on Satz v....
...by the towing companies to a third party, without the knowledge or consent of the
City, did not alter their status so as to render them subject to disclosure as public
records.
CONCLUSION
Under the plain and unambiguous statutory language of section
119.0713(2)(b), the draft audit reports were not subject to disclosure as public
records....
