State leaders in Florida are in a battle with technology: new forms of communications that make it difficult for public officials to follow the law.

The state has one of the best government public record laws in the country. Virtually every public document is accessible to the public. And though the state is embracing the perks of advanced technology � the Legislature just started piloting the use of electronic meeting packets, instead of printing them on paper � the use of cell phones and BlackBerrys is causing concern. It's simply too difficult to archive all communications.

Details.

[Have you run into any of these problems?]

An interesting article. I have had detectives tell me that the more organized motorcycle gangs are now using blackberries and their own servers in order to prevent interception and subpoena of information by law enforcement. Wonder what these politicos would think if they were told they were communicating the same way that drug dealers and racketeers do?

The anecdote about the lobbyist texting the senator questions to ask is interesting. It reminds me of a Texas state senator who used to wear an earpiece so his staff could tell him what to say. I bet those conversations aren't archived either.

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Originally posted by JohnR:
The anecdote about the lobbyist texting the senator questions to ask is interesting.

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Is that wrong?

We are actually looking for a speaker to speak on this topic for a Dallas Bar Association, Government Law Section CLE this fall. If you know of anyone willing to speak about the interaction of the Public Information Act and digital information such as that contained on smartphones, let me know.

The hypothetical that keeps coming up is government business conducted using OWA on a personal device.