Does Florida's Sunshine Law require county orientation sessions for value adjustment board special magistrates to be open to the public?

Plain-English summary

In larger Florida counties, the value adjustment board (the body that hears property-tax assessment challenges) appoints special magistrates to take testimony and recommend rulings. A 2008 amendment (Chapter 2008-197) added section 194.035(3), which directs the Department of Revenue to train those magistrates at least once a year in at least five locations, and says "[t]he training shall be open to the public."

The Department of Revenue's executive director asked whether section 286.011, the Sunshine Law, also requires the separate orientation sessions that individual counties hold for their special magistrates to be open.

Attorney General Bill McCollum said no. The Sunshine Law guarantees access to meetings of public boards or commissions where official business is conducted. A county orientation for contracted special magistrates is not such a meeting: there is no board or commission convening, and no foreseeable official action being discussed. So section 286.011 was not triggered. The AG was careful about scope: the statutory "open to the public" command attaches to the Department of Revenue's training, and the AG would not stretch it to cover county orientations. At the same time, nothing prevents a county from voluntarily opening those sessions, which the legislative history suggests would help unrepresented taxpayers prepare. The opinion carries a "(But see AGO 2010-15)" notation, signaling that a later Attorney General opinion returned to this subject.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2008. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. The opinion itself carries a "(But see AGO 2010-15)" cross-reference. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What is a value adjustment board special magistrate?
A: In counties with a population over 75,000, the value adjustment board appoints special magistrates to take testimony and make recommendations on property-tax petitions. They are the hearing officers who handle assessment challenges before the board acts.

Q: Why didn't the Sunshine Law apply to the county orientations?
A: The AG explained that section 286.011 applies to meetings of a board or commission at which official decisions are made. A county orientation for special magistrates is not a gathering of a board's members deciding official business, so the open-meetings requirement was not implicated.

Q: Is any magistrate training required to be open to the public?
A: Yes, but a different one. Section 194.035(3), added in 2008, requires the Department of Revenue's statewide training for special magistrates to be open to the public. The AG read that command as limited to the DOR training and not extended to separate county-run orientations.

Q: Could a county open its orientation sessions anyway?
A: Yes. The AG noted that nothing prevents a county from allowing public attendance, and the legislative history suggested doing so would help taxpayers who represent themselves prepare for their hearings.

Background and statutory framework

Section 194.035(1) requires value adjustment boards in larger counties to appoint special magistrates. The 2008 amendment in Chapter 2008-197 added subsection (3), directing the Department of Revenue to conduct annual magistrate training and providing that the training "shall be open to the public." The bill's legislative history referenced Auditor General Report No. 2006-007, which found that county training of special masters was generally not treated as a meeting subject to public-notice requirements, and recommended encouraging citizen attendance to better prepare self-represented petitioners.

Section 286.011, the Government in the Sunshine Law, guarantees public access to meetings of public boards and commissions, with notice and minutes. The AG's analysis turned on the absence of any "meeting" of a board: because an orientation for contracted magistrates is not a convening of board members to conduct official business, the statute did not reach it. The opinion declined to read the narrow statutory "open to the public" requirement for DOR training as a general open-meetings mandate for county sessions.

Citations

Statutes and session laws

• s. 286.011, Fla. Stat. (Government in the Sunshine; open meetings)
• s. 194.035, Fla. Stat. (special magistrates; DOR training open to the public)
• Ch. 2008-197, Laws of Fla. (2008 amendment adding s. 194.035(3))

Related opinion

• AGO 2010-15 (later opinion noted in the text as revisiting this subject)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/sunshine-law-training-session-for-value-adj-bd
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1797

Original opinion text

(But see AGO 2010-15)

Ms. Lisa Echeverri

Executive Director

Department of Revenue

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0100

RE: GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE – OPEN MEETINGS – VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARDS – SPECIAL MAGISTRATES – application of open meetings law to training sessions for value adjustment board special magistrates. ss. 194.035 and 286.011, Fla. Stat.

Dear Ms. Echeverri:

You have asked substantially the following question:

Does section 286.011, Florida Statutes, apply to orientations given by local county officials for special magistrates hired to hear value adjustment board petitions?

In counties with a population of more than 75,000, the county's value adjustment board is required to appoint special magistrates to take testimony and make recommendations to the board.[1] Section 194.035, Florida Statutes, as amended by Chapter 2008-197, Laws of Florida, directs the Florida Department of Revenue to provide and conduct training for special magistrates at least once each state fiscal year in at least five locations throughout the state.[2] Subsection (3) of the statute states that "[t]he training shall be open to the public."

While the plain language of the statute requires such training sessions to be open to the public, nothing in the statute or in the legislative analysis accompanying the statutory change indicates that they are subject to the requirements of section 286.011, Florida Statutes.[3] Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, provides a right of access to governmental proceedings, requiring that meetings of public boards or commissions be open to the public, that reasonable notice of such meetings be given and that minutes of the meeting be taken. In light of the fact that there is no meeting of a board or commission at which official business will be conducted, section 286.011, Florida Statutes, would not be implicated.

You state that a number of counties have been conducting orientation sessions for the special magistrates contracted to hear value adjustment board petitions. The question has arisen whether these local orientations are subject to the open meeting requirements in section 286.011, Florida Statutes. There is no apparent board or commission that would be represented at the orientation sessions. Moreover, no Florida Statute has been brought to the attention of this office that makes such orientations a public meeting. Absent a meeting of two or more members of a board or commission at which matters upon which foreseeable action will be taken are discussed, the orientation sessions held by local governments would not be subject to section 286.011, Florida Statutes.

In the legislative history attendant to the 2008 changes to section 194.035, Florida Statutes, reference is made to Auditor General's Report Number 2006-007 evaluating the performance of fourteen county value adjustment boards. In the report, several findings and recommendations were made, including the need to improve written procedures in a manual to be used by all value adjustment boards, special masters and the public; thereby providing consistent and uniform procedures statewide.[4] The report also commented upon the training of special masters by counties and how such training was generally not considered to be a meeting subject to public notice requirements. Noting that petitioners choosing to represent themselves were often not adequately prepared to present their cases, it was suggested that providing notice of the training sessions to citizens and encouraging their attendance would be beneficial.[5]

While not directly addressed by the statute, it is clear that the Legislature’s concern was to provide citizen access to the training sessions for special magistrates conducting hearings for value adjustment boards. The requirement that training sessions for special magistrates conducted by the Department of Revenue be open to the public cannot be extended by this office to training sessions held by counties.[6] Nothing, however, would preclude a county from allowing public attendance at such orientation sessions in order to facilitate better citizen education of the value adjustment board process and to carry out the Legislature’s intent.

Accordingly, it is my opinion that section 286.011, Florida Statutes, does not apply to orientations given by local county officials for special magistrates hired to hear value adjustment board petitions. However, nothing would preclude a county from allowing the public to attend such orientations in order to enhance the knowledge of citizens who appear before value adjustment boards.

Sincerely,

Bill McCollum

Attorney General

BM/tals

[1] Section 194.035(1), Fla. Stat.

[2] See s. 5, Ch. 2008-197, Laws of Fla., amending s. 194.035, Fla. Stat., by adding subsection (3).

[3] See House of Representatives Staff Analysis, CS/HB 909, April 15, 2008. See also Senate Bill Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement, CS/CS/SB 2080 (related bill for comparison), April 22, 2008, requiring the Department of Revenue (DOR) to develop uniform policies and procedures manual for use by value adjustment boards; requiring appointment of special magistrates, regardless of population; and requiring DOR to provide and conduct training for special magistrates at least once each fiscal year in at least five locations, with such training open to the public. The analysis states that training sessions are not considered by counties as meetings subject to the public notice requirements, but to better prepare potential petitioners for hearings, it would be beneficial to provide citizens the opportunity to attend (Finding No. 12). It also reports no impact on public records or open meetings issues.

I would note that as originally filed, HB 909, stated: "The training shall be open to the public. Value adjustment boards that provide training for special magistrates shall advertise the training sessions and allow taxpayers to attend the training sessions." The first committee substitute for HB 909 deleted the second sentence.

[4] Finding No. 2, Auditor General's Report No. 2006-007.

[5] Finding No. 12, Auditor General’s Report No. 2006-007.

[6] See Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 82-20 (1982).