Chris Davis and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Public records have been a major asset to Chris Davis and other investigative reporters at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. It has allowed them to inform the public about many scandals and fraud cases in the state of Florida. Without them, many of their investigations and findings would have ceased to exist.

According to Davis, the Herald-Tribune uses public records every day. One story that was uncovered almost exclusively by public records was that of flipping fraud. Many people throughout the state would purchase property and have it illegally appraised for more than it was worth. They would then have a friend or relative who would get a bank loan to cover most of the cost of the illegally appraised property. The initial buyer would then sell it to the friend or relative for the illegally appraised amount and keep the leftover loan money, leaving the bank with a foreclosed house and no money back from the loan. Davis and other reporters began to talk to property appraisers in every county in Florida to get a list of sales found in a public records database. They looked for sales of 30% or higher of a price increase that occurred less than 90 days after the original sale of the property. From this information, they were able to develop a list of flippers in Sarasota and post it on their website. The list shows which flippers were directly connected to each other, as well as a spider web map that shows how every single flipper was connected either directly or indirectly. The Herald-Tribune also created a profile for every flipper, including pictures on some. Public records also allowed the Herald-Tribune to create a map of Florida using Google Maps that shows where the fraud occurred and how expensive the flip was. The map can also show which areas were affected the most by the flips according to population.

Public records also helped the Sarasota Herald-Tribune expose teachers who had abused or mistreated students and are still teaching today. Reporters looked at reviews for teachers with such charges, what they were charged, what they plead and if their license was revoked or not. In many cases, the teachers simply switched schools and are still teaching today. Some teachers were accused of having sex with students, sending love letters to students and, in one case, even locking them in bathrooms when they misbehaved. The public records of reviews of the teachers allowed the Herald-Tribune to create a database online where users can search by school, name and type of charge. This database, based primarily on public records, has allowed many parents and students to be informed and warned of potentially harmful teachers they come into contact with every day.

The web pages created by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune have been an incredible way to raise awareness of the public concerning these fraudulent and abusive people. However, these sites would be of no worth if it wasn’t for public records.

USF Library

The library’s website at the University of South Florida is an incredible resource for public records and all kinds of other information. The USF library’s website is a great place to start for anyone needing to create an accurate profile of local public figures.

Coordinator for General Collection and Government Documents Cheryl McCoy helped guide our class through the library’s links and resources. Under resources, one can locate the class link for Public Affairs Reporting. One useful link on the class’ site is idiganwers.com, a website created by Joe Adams. The site shows updates of the Florida Public Records Handbook and even shows you the old laws that were changed. There is also a link on the site to the Florida Sunshine Review, which shows recent news stories pertaining to public records. Many of these stories show violations of public record laws as well as talks of changes in the laws. There’s even an archive that contains news stories about public records going back to 2003.

The library’s site also has a link to the Brencher Center, which is a site dedicated to educating the public about the importance of public records and current public records laws. It also works to expand the laws of public records so that they may be more easily accessible.

The Government in the Sunshine link can also be found on the library’s website. This site also shows changes in the current laws. The First Amendment Foundation is a similar link that can be found, which shows updates and talks of change in public records laws.

One of the best links on the library’s website is that of myfloridacounty.com. This site allows users to search public records databases by county. You can find information such as birth certificates, death certificates, marriage and divorce records, wills and many other public records.

The link to Hillsborough County’s website also shows upcoming public meetings and what’s on the agenda for the meetings. The site also shows happenings of past meetings in the county. There is also an A to Z index link that allows users to easily locate information like property records, building permits, arrest records and budgets.

The library also has a link that allows you to search for a particular news topic in various newspapers around the state like the Tampa Tribune, Orlando-Sentinel and the Miami Herald. You can also expand your search to national newspapers like the USA Today.

Overall, the USF library’s website is an incredible source of information about public records. It is an excellent starting place for anyone who needs to know anything about public records in the state of Florida.

Tim Nickens on Public Records

Public records are an incredible source for just about any type of information. Property records, salaries, building permits and agendas for public meetings are just a few of the many sources open for public viewing. Tim Nickens, editorial page editor for the St. Petersburg Times, helped explain just what public records have done for the public.

The amount of information available through accessing public records allows reporters to uncover unethical behavior by elected officials. Surprisingly, records of building permits and company budgets have unearthed scandal after scandal.

According to Nickens, Representative Ray Samson knows all about how public records can expose elected officials. Through viewing building permits, property records and a community college's budget, it was found that Samson was using 6 million dollars of the public's money to build an airplane hanger for one of his friends. The Board of Trustees at Southwest Florida Community College then held a meeting to rectify the situation, but the meeting took place 150 miles away, ensuring that the public wouldn't be at this meeting. Reporters discovered this through a public record of the meeting.

Public records also helped stop energy companies from raising their rates. The energy companies were proposing a rate increase but it was found, through a public record of the energy company's budget, that the company was going to use part of the profit from the rate increase for a new corporate jet. It was also found that the CEO was going to use some of the money for a private helicopter that would take him to work everyday.

Although public records can help inform the public, elected officials have found some loopholes to the Sunshine Laws. Many officials communicate through e-mail. This means that private and public e-mails must be separated if they are requested by someone. This type of redaction means that someone must be paid to separate the e-mails and whoever is requesting the documents is the one who is charged with the fee.

Despite the ways that officials exploit loopholes, public records are an incredible tool that allow reporters to keep a watchful eye on elected officials. Without them, the public may not have any idea about what their elected officials are doing and what their hard earned tax money is being used for. Public records have saved the public millions of dollars.