I am live-blogging this so some of it might be rough....I'll clean up later.

The session has brief opening statements from the two panelists followed by questions and answers. First up:

Joe Adams: idiganswers.com

Joe says we are "Very fortunate to live in a state with such broad public records laws."

E-mail is a very popular record from a journalist's perspective. They realize that many people are now communicating via e-mail so they request e-mail for stories. This has caused a backlash in public institutions, many are no longer discussing issues via e-mail, they will meet face-to-face.

Public records empower the consumer. In Florida we can find out information about our physicians, courts and public officials to name a few.

He reviewed a recent edition of the Florida Times Union, the majority of the stories on the front page were from public records.

The issue with public access to e-mail was complicated by a lawsuit between the City of Clearwater and the St. Pete Times. The courts ruled that some e-mails that are personal in nature can be withheld. The arguement from the press was, "who is determining what is personal? we can't make that judgement, because we can't see it."

Pam Bernard: UF General Counsel

Pam makes a joke that "we're unfortunate to live in a state with such open records laws"

Public records law states that all documents that are made and received by you or by others in the course of public business is public record. There are notable exceptions, especially within the univeristy system such as: student information, research, etc.

1. The public (not just the media) has access to any document on demand.

2. You must maintain the record. You cannot delete the hardcopy or electronic file.

Start with that basis and move forward. Common mistakes with e-mail and public records.

True/False, you can ask a person to put their request for public record in writing. True, you CAN ask, but it is not required. You CANNOT make somebody put a request in writing, but it does help facilitate

She has seen situation where former employees utilize the broad nature of the public records law to make the lives of former supervisors miserable. She feels this is a major issue with the records law.

You must respond to public records request within a reasonable amount of time. Lawyers love terms like "reasonable". Reasonable depends on the situation.

As a rule she notifies media relations about any public records request. She feels it's important to establish a good working relationship with media requesting records.

She feels that many reporters spend a great deal of energy using public records laws to "find" information. If only they spent the same amount of energy building a relationship with the media contact they would often get more information on a story.

Tips for e-mail in public records. (these are coming from an internal legal perspective)

1. Know your system, know your LAN. Know what is kept, how long it is kept. If you are relying upon your IT staff to maintain your public records you are in violation. It is your responsbility to maintain e-mail.

2. Treat any e-mail like hardcopy. Any public record e-mail, print it and file it in a sensible manner. Print a copy of your reply (if any). Do not keep items in your inbox.

3. Try not to keep items on your system, keep them filed in hardcopy. When a records request comes in you can always refer to the printed files. If you have organized your files properly a request should not be an issue.

So for example if a request comes in for 'All communication between yourself and the president of the university" she would ask, "on what subject?" If the request is broad than all the files must be reviewed and the person making a request can be charged for the clerical time to fulfill the request. If the scope of the request is narrow then the request should easily be fufilled.

Obviously whenever there is doubt consult your in-house counsel or attorney.

Q&A Session

Moderator states that the majority of the people in the room are on Pam's side since they are PR/PIO for public agencies.

As PIO or PR director you need to know all the records the come in and out of your organization. That way you know what can be requested, so when an issue arises you don't look unprofessional.

Public records access cannot be contracted away. For example if you hire an outside firm to consult or help with a job application process the third-party must follow the same public records law.

As an independent PR consultant if you are working for a public agency at the end of the contract you can at a cost to the public agency provide them copies of all correspendance that is public record.

What is excessive? How to you bring up the subject of paying for a records request? Pam's rule of thumb is if the request will take more than one hour or cost more then $5 to duplicate then you can start to talk about cost.

I might be able to do the keyote..we'll see, otherwise Session 3 starts at 1:45, 'News in a Digital World'