Florida Department of Health v. Woliner
In a Public Records Act enforcement suit, the trial court found the Department of Health committed technical chapter 119 violations but that Woliner failed to satisfy section 119.12's 5-business-day pre-suit notice requirement; it nonetheless awarded him $5,546.32 in costs and fees under the general cost statute, section 57.041. The First DCA reversed, holding that section 119.12 — as the more specific and more recently enacted statute — exclusively governs entitlement to costs in Public Records Act enforcement actions, so a claimant who fails the notice condition recovers nothing.
Key facts
- Florida Department of Health appealed a trial court decision awarding Woliner $5,546.32 in costs and attorney's fees in a Public Records Act enforcement action despite finding he failed to provide the required five-business-day pre-suit written notice to the agency's records custodian.
- The trial court determined the Department committed technical violations of Florida's Public Records Act (chapter 119) but awarded costs under the general cost statute (section 57.041) rather than the Public Records Act's specific cost provision (section 119.12).
- +1 more key fact with a free trial
Why it matters
This decision closes an important workaround: public records requesters who miss chapter 119's pre-suit notice condition cannot fall back on the general cost statute to recover their litigation expenses. Agencies… — full analysis with a trial
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