COOK v. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (2021)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

Mary COOK, Appellant, v. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Appellee.

No. 1D20-2692

Decided: April 14, 2021

Mary Cook, pro se, Appellant. Lance Eric Neff, General Counsel, and Sean Jason Anderson, Assistant General Counsel, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

The trial court decided the merits of Appellant's public-records claim without conducting a hearing. As Appellant argues and Appellee concedes, this was error. In an action to enforce the provisions of chapter 119, Florida law requires the trial court to hold a hearing before entering a final order. § 119.11(1), Fla. Stat. (2020); see also Kline v. Univ. of Fla., 200 So. 3d 271, 272 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (holding that 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 chapter 119. Absent waiver, an order issued without the statutorily-required hearing is premature.”). We reverse and remand for a hearing.

Reversed and Remanded.

Per Curiam.

Kelsey, Nordby, and Long, JJ., concur.

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