Guidelines for Making and Receiving Public Records Requests
Many requests can be addressed via free, online public court records available through the Alachua County Clerk of the Court’s website.
The requestor is not required to explain the purpose or reason for a public records request.
The requestor may not be required to disclose his or her name, address, telephone number or the like, unless otherwise required by law for the release of the information.
Agencies are required to produce only those records that already exist, with applicable redactions and exclusions per law, and do not have to create a new records to fulfill a request. There is nothing in the public records law providing for a standing request for production of public records that may be produced or received in the future.
Agencies do not have to respond to or answer questions about public records, other than with information about how to obtain them and any associated cost.
Methods of Requesting Public Records
Public Record Requests may be submitted to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office:
- In Person – at 2621 SE Hawthorne Road, Gainesville, Florida, at the Records Customer Service Window, 7am-7pm, Monday-Friday
- Email directly – RecordsRequests@alachuasheriff.org
- By Phone:
- Department of the Jail Records (352) 491-4444
- Offense Reports and In-Car Video Recordings (352) 367-4006
- Calls for Service (911) Reports and Audio audioproduction@alachuasheriff.org
- Personnel Records (352) 367-4040
- Internal Investigations (352) 384-3050
- By online form:
Payment and Delivery
Fees to produce records are charged for all requests as follows:
- Resulting in 20 pages or more and/or requiring more than 15 minutes of an employee’s time to fulfill the request.
- Will be calculated based on the hourly salary plus benefits of the employee producing the records to the nearest quarter hour exceeding the 15 minutes time (the first 15 minutes is included in the calculation) and include a per page assessment of $0.15 per single-sided page/$0.20 per double-sided page.
- With the exception of offense reports provided to the victim(s) or victim’s next of kin or custodial family members.
The Freedom of Information Act only applies to federal agencies (not local or state agencies) and is not a basis for a waiver of fees in indigent cases or inmates serving time in a corrections facility.
Records mailed to a requestor will be sent certified with a return receipt to provide documentation the request is fulfilled. When applicable, the postage costs will be included in the estimate to produce and in the final fee assessed.
Payment will be collected in the form of cash, credit card, business check, or money order payable to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office prior to producing the requested records.
Delivery – Records will be provided in the most efficient method possible and generally in the same format the request was originally received.
Reviews
A requestor has the option to inspect a record prior to requesting duplication.
The requestor will be given an area to review the records in the company of the designated records custodian for the review.
The reviewer will be charged for
- The amount of time required to appropriately redact the records in preparation of the review
- The amount of time of the records custodian sitting through the review
- At the rate of the hourly salary plus benefits of the employee providing the service.
Payment will be due upon conclusion of the review.