CLAY COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, APPELLANT,
v.
CLAY COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2014-08-22
No. 1D13-4858
WOLF and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.
144 So. 3d 708 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2014) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court's dismissal of a mandamus complaint filed by the Clay County Education Association seeking to compel the School Board to produce public records. The court held that the complaint stated a prima facie case for mandamus relief and that the trial court erred in dismissing it without holding an evidentiary hearing to resolve factual disputes.


Holding

The court reversed the dismissal, holding that the complaint stated a prima facie case for mandamus relief and that the trial court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing to resolve disputed issues of fact. When a petition and answer raise disputed factual issues, the trial court must resolve them upon evidence submitted by the parties, and section 119.11(1) mandates an immediate hearing in actions to enforce public records provisions.


Headnotes

[1] A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint and does not resolve factual issues.

[2] When ruling on a motion to dismiss, a court must accept the plaintiff's allegations as true and resolve all inferences in the plaintiff's favor.

Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint and does not resolve factual issues.”

Establishes that dismissal is improper when factual disputes exist that require evidentiary resolution.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

The Clay County Education Association requested certain records related to the School Board's operation, control, and supervision of public schools. T…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
RAY, J.

RAY, J.

Clay County Education Association (“CCEA”) appeals from an order dismissing its complaint for writ of mandamus seeking to compel the production of certain public records from the School Board of *709Clay County (“School Board”). CCEA argues that the circuit court erred in dismissing the complaint and failing to hold an evidentiary hearing to resolve disputed issues of fact. We agree. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand.

Before filing its complaint, CCEA requested certain records related to the School Board’s operation, control, and supervision of the public schools within Clay County. While certain information was provided, the School Board failed to produce the remaining requested materials, all of which CCEA alleged are public records in the School Board’s custody. CCEA requested an immediate hearing on its complaint, as provided for in section 119.11(1), Florida Statutes (2013). The trial court then issued an alternative writ of mandamus directing the School Board to provide written defenses to CCEA’s complaint. In its unsworn response, the School Board contended that it either had already provided the documents, did not have the information in the format requested, or could not produce the documents because they did not exist. Based solely on the pleadings before it, the trial court determined that CCEA failed to establish a clear legal right to the requested relief and dismissed CCEA’s complaint.

This Court reviews de novo the trial court’s dismissal of a complaint for writ of mandamus. See Walker v. Ellis, 989 So.2d 1250 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint and does not resolve factual issues. Felder v. State, Dep’t ofMgmt. Servs., Div. of Retirement, 993 So.2d 1031, 1034 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). When ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must consider only the allegations within “the four corners of the plaintiffs complaint” and “must accept the plaintiffs allegations as true and resolve all inferences in the plaintiffs favor.” Miller v. Nelms, 966 So.2d 437, 439-40 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007).

To be entitled to a writ of mandamus, a party must allege a violation of a clear legal right and the breach of an indisputable legal duty. Polley v. Gardner, 98 So.3d 648, 649 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). CCEA’s complaint alleged each of these elements, citing article I, section 24(a), of the Florida Constitution and chapter 119, Florida Statutes (2013). Moreover, when all reasonable inferences are drawn in CCEA’s favor, its requests satisfy the broadly defined category of “public records.” See § 119.011(12), Fla. Stat. (2013). Therefore, CCEA’s complaint shows a pri-ma facie case for relief, and the trial court’s dismissal was improper.

Because the complaint was not properly subject to dismissal, the court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing to resolve disputed issues of fact. See Jo-hanson v. State, 872 So.2d 387 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (reversing the denial of a petition for writ of mandamus based on an unsworn response filed by the State that it did not possess the records requested and remanding to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing, including an in camera inspection of the state attorney’s file, to determine who possessed the required records); Radford v. Brock, 914 So.2d 1066, 1068 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (reversing the dismissal of a mandamus action because the petition and answer raised a factual dispute as to who possessed the requested recording and stating “[i]f the petition and answer to the alternative writ raise disputed factual issues, the trial court must resolve these issues upon evidence submitted by the parties”). Further, CCEA correctly observes that a hearing should have taken place immediately under section 119.11(1), which provides, “Whenever an action is filed to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the *710eourt shall set an immediate hearing, giving the case priority over other pending cases.”

Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s dismissal and remand for an immediate hearing under section 119.11(1) and, if necessary, further proceedings to resolve any factual disputes that remain between the parties’ complaint and answer.

WOLF and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Ferrier v. The Pub. Def's. Off., 171 So. 3d 744 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)
    …ree with Appellant that the circuit court erred in not conducting an evidentia-ry hearing on the contested issue of whether the Public Defender’s Officer had the requested materials in its possession. Clay County Educ. Ass’n v. Clay County Sch. Bd., 144 So. 3d 708, 709 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (reversing the dismissal of a petition for writ of mandamus based on a response that the School Board had already turned over the documents, the documents did not exist in the formant requested, or the documents did not exis…
  • Holley v. Bradford Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't, 171 So. 3d 805 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)
    …rial court could not deny appellant’s petition without conducting an evidentiary hearing on this issue. See Ferrier v. Public Defender’s Office, 2d Jud. Cir. of Fla., 171 So. 3d 744 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015); Clay Cnty. Educ. Ass’n v. Clay Cnty. Sch. Bd., 144 So. 3d 708 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014); Parish v. State, 59 So. 3d 1229 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011); Johanson v. State, 872 So. 2d 387 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Radford v. Brock, 914 So. 2d 1066, 1068-69 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions that t…
  • Kline v. Univ. OF Fla., 200 So. 3d 271 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …, to determine [*272] whether the Sheriffs Department possessed the requested records, whether the records were exempt from disclosure, and whether they could be redacted and produced in part); see also Clay Cnty. Educ. Ass’n v. Clay Cnty. Sch. Bd., 144 So. 3d 708, 710 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (reversing and remanding dismissal of mandamus petition for an evidentiary hearing to resolve disputed issues of fact). The plain language of section 119.11(1) requires the trial court to conduct a hearing on actions seeki…

Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw