Tarpon Springs broke public records law in ‘bad faith,’ judge rules

By Tray McManus, Tampa Bay Times, July 25, 2024

The city of Tarpon Springs broke Florida’s public records law when it withheld documents requested by its former city attorneys and manufactured excuses of confusion for “bad faith” delays, a judge has ruled.

For nearly two years, the city created “unquestionably unjustifiable delays” in producing records while illegally withholding others, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Jirotka wrote in his July 10 ruling.

The judge ordered the city to hand over all nonexempt records not yet provided to Trask’s law firm, deliver a log detailing statutory grounds for any that are still being withheld and pay Trask’s legal fees. Jay Daigneault, Trask’s law partner, told the Tampa Bay Times the litigation has cost them about $100,000 to date.

“The way the public records request was handled by the city borders on comical,” Daigneault said. “They broke the public records law in almost every way it could be broken.”