foia.direct / Florida
State public records guide / Florida Chapter 119

Florida public records framework

The Sunshine State's public records framework, the body-worn camera law that governs release of footage, and foia.direct's directory of tracked Florida law-enforcement agencies with per-agency response-history intelligence.

Last verified: 2026-04-04 (state law) · 2026-05-19 (agency data) · Report this is wrong

01Statutory framework

Statute
Fla. Stat. ch. 119
Common name
Sunshine Law / Public Records Act
Access level
Moderate (presumed public)
Statutory deadline
"Reasonable time" (no fixed days)
Copy fee
$0.15 per page; $1 certified
Clerical fee
Extensive requests at actual cost
BWC mandate
Yes (mandatory program)
Residency required
No

Florida statutory text: Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. State BWC framework verified 2026-04-04.

02Body-worn camera footage rules

Florida's Sunshine Law presumes records are public, including body-worn camera footage in most circumstances. However, the law carves out specific categorical exemptions where footage captured in private settings is confidential and exempt from release.

Categorical exemptions for BWC footage

The combination of statutory exemptions plus agency-discretionary redaction (faces of minors, victims, witnesses, and audio containing personal identifying information) means released BWC footage is typically heavily redacted compared to the original recording.

03foia.direct response intelligence across Florida

42requests
aggregated across 2 tracked Florida agencies
Video released 0 Documents only 2 Withdrawn or stalled 16 Denied or no records 24

Across the 42 tracked records requests submitted by foia.direct to Florida law-enforcement agencies, zero produced usable body-worn camera footage to the requester. The two largest agencies in our tracked dataset, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Volusia County Sheriff's Office, show different failure patterns: Hillsborough cluster denials around active-investigation exemptions, Volusia clusters around jurisdictional routing (the actual incident was handled by a municipal agency within Volusia County). Fee invoices on bodycam-specific requests in both agencies have run substantially higher than fees on general incident-report requests. Practitioners working a Florida BWC incident should plan for narrow scoping by exact date plus location, jurisdiction confirmation before filing, and a budget for processing fees on requests that pass the exemption gate.

Source: foia.direct tracking, n=42 aggregated across 2 Florida agencies with tracked-request data, as of 2026-05-19. See methodology.

04Tracked Florida law-enforcement agencies

foia.direct has indexed 14 Florida law-enforcement agencies and tracks per-agency response history for those with submitted requests. Click any agency below to see its dedicated page, including contact channels, fee tier, response history, and intelligence layer.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
Tracked 25 requests
Volusia County Sheriff's Office
Tracked 17 requests
Florida Highway Patrol
Indexed 0 requests yet
Miami Police Department
Indexed 0 requests yet
Polk County Sheriff's Office
Indexed 0 requests yet
Brevard County Sheriff's Office
Indexed 0 requests yet
Lakeland Police Department
Indexed 0 requests yet
Sumter County Sheriff's Office
Indexed 0 requests yet
Nassau County Sheriff's Office
Indexed 0 requests yet
Hernando County Sheriff's Office
Indexed 0 requests yet
Clay County Sheriff's Office
Indexed 0 requests yet
Cocoa Beach Police Department
Indexed 0 requests yet
Daytona Beach Police Department
Indexed 0 requests yet
Winter Haven Police Department
Indexed 0 requests yet

05How to file a Florida public records request

Format
Florida law does not require a written request, but a written request creates a clear paper trail. Most agencies accept email, online portal, mail, or in-person request.
Identify yourself
Florida law does not require you to identify yourself or state a purpose. Anonymous requests are permitted under Chapter 119.
Scope precision
Specific incident date, time, location, and case number (when known) materially improve the response rate. Broad keyword requests often produce no-records-responsive determinations.
Fee expectations
Copy fee is statutorily $0.15 per page (plus $1 for certified). Agencies may charge for "extensive" clerical or technological work at actual cost. Ask for a fee estimate before processing on any request expected to exceed $25.
Response time
Florida law requires a "reasonable time" with no fixed statutory deadline. Acknowledgment within 5 to 10 business days is typical through portal systems.
Appeal path
Denials can be challenged through the state Attorney General, the Office of Open Government, or a civil action in circuit court under Fla. Stat. 119.11.

Draft a Florida public records request

foia.direct generates a jurisdiction-correct Chapter 119 records request letter in about 30 seconds. Paste an article URL or describe the incident, we identify the right agency from our Florida directory.

Start a request, free
Found wrong statutory information, missing agency, or stats that do not look right? Email corrections@foia.direct and we will re-verify within 14 days.