MANATEE COUNTY – Manatee County admits wrongdoing in a legal battle over unfulfilled public records requests.
Representatives from the Florida Center for Government Accountability say they believe the county could be withholding records that show officials are conducting public business over text messages outside of the public eye.
The organization filed the civil lawsuit against Administrator Scott Hopes and two deputy administrators, Robert Reinshuttle and Charlie Bishop.
FCGA Director for Public Access Michael Barfield says, “A phenomenal amount of public business is being carried out by text message by county commissioners, county administrators, and lobbyists behind the scenes that give a completely different explanation than the county’s official meetings do, and we’re not sure if we have all of them ye.”
The county is required to archive and back up text messages by Florida law, but up until recently, it did not have the ability to capture text messages.
