MCDONOUGH v. CITY OF HOMESTEAD (2020)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Dr. James Eric MCDONOUGH, Appellant, v. CITY OF HOMESTEAD, etc., Appellee.

No. 3D19-1362

Decided: March 25, 2020

Before SALTER, LOGUE, and LOBREE, JJ.

Dr. James Eric McDonough, in proper person. Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L., and Matthew H. Mandel, and Samuel I. Zeskind (Fort Lauderdale), for appellee.

Dr. James Eric McDonough appeals the trial court's entry of the trial court's Final Judgment Denying Mandamus Relief in his action to obtain public records from the City of Homestead. Among other things, Dr. McDonough contends the final judgment was premature because it was entered without a hearing.

Commendably, Appellee, the City of Homestead, does not dispute the Final Order was entered prematurely. Florida law mandates that “[w]henever an action is filed to enforce the provisions of [Chapter 119], the court shall set an immediate hearing ․” § 119.11(1), Fla. Stat. “The plain language of section 119.11(1) requires the trial court to conduct a hearing on actions seeking to enforce the right to access public records under section 119. Absent waiver, an order issued without the statutorily-required hearing is premature.” Kline v. Univ. of Fla., 200 So. 3d 271, 272 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (citing Grace v. Jenne, 855 So. 2d 262, 263 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)).

Reversed and remanded.

LOGUE, J.

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