Court Orders DeSantis Administration To Disclose COVID Data and Pay Attorney’s Fees

By Florida Trident staff, Florida Center for Accountable Government, October 9, 2023 

After two years of denying that detailed COVID-19 data relating to 2021 infections and vaccines existed, and then being forced by a court to turn it over, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health have agreed to a settlement that will require the state to disclose coronavirus data on its web site and pay attorney’s fees for attempting to circumvent state public records law.

The settlement announced Monday by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, a non-profit public records watchdog which sued the state on behalf of former state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, requires the department to publish detailed COVID-19 data on the Florida Department of Health website and pay $152,250 in legal fees to attorneys representing FLCGA and Smith.

“The department lied about the existence of these public records in court and did everything to restrict information and downplay the threat of COVID even while the Delta variant ripped through Florida — a decision that cost many lives,” Smith, an Orlando Democrat, said in a statement.