The public records log
Every Chapter 119 request we file, and everything that comes back — including the refusals,
with whatever exemption was cited, quoted exactly. Nobody in Tampa publishes this.
What the law actually says
Florida agencies must produce existing electronic records in the format they already hold them. They may charge only actual duplication cost plus, for extensive requests, a special service charge for staff time. They cannot ask why you want a record and cannot restrict what you do with it afterwards.
Status meanings are defined below. Nothing has been filed yet — these five are drafted and
listed here before filing so the log is complete rather than flattering.
HillsGovHub building permit extract, native CSV, 19 Jan 2021 to present
drafted Hillsborough County Development Services · not yet filed
Why this one. Closes the single largest open-data gap in Tampa Bay. HillsGovHub is search-only and the county has published no bulk permit export since 19 January 2021, so there is no machine-readable record of unincorporated-county construction for more than five years.
The request, verbatim
Under Article I, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, I request a copy of the existing electronic extract of building permit records held in the Accela/HillsGovHub system for the period 19 January 2021 to the date of this request, in the native format in which the county already maintains it (CSV or database export). I am not requesting the creation of a new record. If any portion is exempt, please produce the remainder and cite the specific statutory exemption for each withheld field.
General ledger vendor payment extract, native CSV
drafted Hillsborough County Clerk of Court — Finance · not yet filed
Why this one. The published checkbook registers are PDFs and they exclude the constitutional officers, including the Sheriff. The underlying ledger is electronic and is a public record.
The request, verbatim
Under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, I request the existing electronic general-ledger vendor payment extract for the two most recent complete fiscal years, in the native format the office already maintains (CSV or database export), including payee, amount, date, fund and department. I am not requesting a new report be created, and I am not requesting a PDF rendering of data held electronically.
County and municipal campaign finance reports in native electronic format
drafted Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections · not yet filed
Why this one. The state portal covers state offices only. County and municipal campaign finance is the hardest structured-data problem in the region and the most defensible niche on this site.
The request, verbatim
Under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, I request campaign finance reports filed with this office for county and municipal candidates and committees for the two most recent election cycles, in the native electronic format in which they are maintained. If reports are held as scanned images, please state that, and separately produce any electronic index or database of contributions and expenditures that the office maintains.
Code enforcement case extract, native CSV
drafted City of Tampa — Neighborhood Enhancement · not yet filed
Why this one. The Accela citizen portal is searchable by address but has no export, and it returns 403 to automated requests. The extract exists behind it.
The request, verbatim
Under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, I request the existing electronic extract of code enforcement cases for the period 1 January 2020 to the date of this request, in the native format the city already maintains, including case number, address, folio, violation description, opened date, closed date and status.
GTFS-realtime feed access
drafted Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) · not yet filed
Why this one. CUTR built a realtime generator from HART's AVL data, so the feed exists internally. A public GTFS-rt endpoint would let this site and everyone else show real arrivals.
The request, verbatim
Under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, I request the technical documentation and access details for any GTFS-realtime feed HART produces or has produced, together with any agreement governing its distribution. If no such feed is currently produced, I request the records describing the vehicle location data HART maintains and the format in which it is held.
Ad slot — below the log · 280px reserved
What the statuses mean
| drafted | Written and reviewed, not yet sent. Listed here before filing so the log is complete rather than flattering. |
| filed | Sent to the agency; the statutory clock is running. |
| acknowledged | The agency has responded but not yet produced records. |
| fulfilled | Records received. |
| partial | Some records received, some withheld. |
| refused | Refused. The claimed exemption is recorded verbatim. |
File your own
You do not need a reason and you do not need a lawyer. The single most useful thing to know is
that you should ask for the record in the format the agency already holds it — a PDF
of a spreadsheet is a new record they can decline to create, while the spreadsheet itself is an
existing one they generally cannot.
How to file a Florida public records request →