Nonpayment of Fees for Public Records May Preclude Subsequent Requests

In Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, the Fourth District considered a case in which Lozman had requested records from the City but then failed to pay the undisputed charges of $233.50. Because he failed to pay, the City never furnished the records to him. When he sought additional records, the City refused to comply until Lozman paid the amount due for the previous records request.

Lozman sued for a writ of mandamus, contending that the City's refusal to supply the records was a violation of the public records law. As stated by the Fourth District, the only issue in the case was "whether the City could require him to pay the past due fees before complying with his subsequent requests."

That question was not directly answered by the opinion. Rather, the Fourth District found that Chapter 119 "does not require the City to do any more than what it did in this case" and denied the petition for writ of mandamus.