Florida's Attorney General's Office has not released a 2026 edition of the Government in the Sunshine Manual, the guide that clerks, records custodians and residents use to make sense of the state's public records and open meetings laws, the Florida Phoenix reported Friday.
The Phoenix found that a new edition had come out every year since at least 1994. A representative of Attorney General James Uthmeier's office confirmed to the news site that the 2025 edition is the latest one published. The office did not answer the Phoenix's questions about why no 2026 manual has appeared. New editions usually come out in the spring.
The manual is produced with the Florida First Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit open-government group, and summarizes the Sunshine Law and the public records law along with any changes from court rulings or the Legislature since the prior year. No law requires the attorney general to publish it.
Who is asking
Bobby Block, the foundation's director, told the Phoenix that records custodians at sheriff's offices, county departments and other agencies contact his group nearly every day asking when the new edition will be out. He said the people most affected are clerks and records staff at cities, counties, school boards and other local bodies, who rely on the guide to do their jobs.
Block said the foundation filed a records request about four weeks ago for any draft of the 2026 manual and has not received one. He said he does not know why the manual has not been released.
