JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A Jacksonville sheriff’s office is asking the family of a pedestrian killed by a police cruiser to pay $314,000 for access to public records related to the officer who was driving the vehicle.
The Florida Times-Union reports that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office returned the huge bill for the records search after an attorney for the family of Blane Land requested records related to the officer’s personnel history.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Lauri-Ellen Smith says the office is reviewing the matter. Sheriff’s officer Tim James fatally hit Land in May and was arrested in June.
Barbara Peterson of the Florida First Amendment Foundation told the newspaper the high estimate is likely a violation of Florida’s public records law because it denies the constitutional right to access records.
