The University of Florida board of trustees, the political appointees who govern the state鈥檚 flagship university, has repeatedly met since 2018 in private settings where the public was not permitted to attend. Those meetings include a two-day retreat earlier this fall when it discussed UF's budget, which it expects to formally approve this month.
Florida鈥檚 Sunshine Law says all government bodies must meet openly to take official actions 鈥� and allow the public to attend. The university confirmed that the public has not been allowed to attend the board鈥檚 private retreats. It initially said the law didn鈥檛 apply to those because board members don鈥檛 vote or take official actions in those sessions.
However, the law also requires meetings to be public when board members deal with issues that require what is considered a 鈥渇oreseeable action鈥� in the future, according to the Florida attorney general鈥檚 office and at least five decades of court precedents.
Three legal experts said the board鈥檚 private retreats violated Florida law based on a review of the board鈥檚 agendas and presentations during closed-door meetings over the years. The board has conducted seven such private retreats where the public was not allowed since 2018, according to its own records.
For its private retreats since 2023, the UF board generally has in advance the date, time and city where it鈥檚 meeting privately 鈥� but not the actual location. It has not openly published its planned agenda or the official minutes of what board members said or did during such private meetings.
鈥淭he BOT is violating the Sunshine Law by not providing notice and allowing the public to attend its retreats,鈥� said Barbara Petersen, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, a non-partisan group dedicated to government transparency. 鈥淭he Sunshine Law applies to all meetings of the BOT at which public business is to be transacted or discussed.鈥�
In response to this reporting, UF said this week that its board鈥檚 private retreats will be open to anyone who wants to attend and it will specify the location of next year鈥檚 retreat in advance of the meeting.
鈥淥ur board retreats are open to the public,鈥� spokesman Steve Orlando said in a new statement. 鈥淥ur intent has never been to close them, and anyone who wishes to attend them may do so.鈥�
The most recent private board retreat was Sept. 12 in Tampa, which included a presentation by the university鈥檚 chief financial officer, Taylor Jantz. It discussed revenues, appropriations, tuition and projected expenses for the future, with a note on one page of Jantz鈥檚 presentation that said, 鈥淲e will seek formal approval of the FY25 budget in October,鈥� according to documents the university turned over under Florida鈥檚 public records law.
At the same meeting, the trustees also discussed national rankings, marketing, enrollment, UF Health financials, and UF Health's vision, strategy and execution, according to documents the university turned over under Florida鈥檚 public records law.
The board is expected at its upcoming Dec. 12 meeting to approve the exact fiscal 2025 budget that Jantz presented to the board in September during its private meeting, according to its published agenda for that meeting. Every dollar figure in every category of revenues and expenses is identical to what the board saw behind closed doors months earlier.
No other public university in Florida has regularly held such private retreats that exclude the public, according to a survey of the boards鈥� calendars and review of official meeting minutes.
The UF private retreats are held annually at golf resorts and luxury hotels, including the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach and the Alford Inn, a boutique hotel in Winter Park in central Florida that includes an art gallery and spa, according to the board鈥檚 records obtained under the public records law after the meetings had already taken place.
Public money paid for the private meetings: UF spent about $49,000 on the board鈥檚 two-day retreat in 2023 and nearly $41,000 in 2024. The 2023 figure includes $19,173 for two dinners. The following year, the board spent $5,897 for one dinner. The board鈥檚 longtime chairman, Morteza 鈥淢ori鈥� Hosseini, personally paid for another dinner for an unspecified amount.
The board hosted its Sept. 12 dinner at Tampa鈥檚 Stovall House, an exclusive, private social club that operates out of a $12.7 million historic home on the waterfront, according to the club鈥檚 marketing materials and expenditure amounts turned over under Florida鈥檚 public records law.
The records did not indicate how many people ate at the retreat dinners except that they included as many as 13 trustees, unspecified members of UF president鈥檚 Cabinet and as many as 13 presenters at this year鈥檚 two-day retreat.
Orlando, the university spokesman, previously said the UF board鈥檚 retreats were legally kept private because the board made no decisions during them and received only informational presentations. He said the meetings were not covered by the Sunshine Law but said materials presented at these meetings are public records under the law.
鈥淓ach board member receives thorough instruction on Florida鈥檚 open meetings and open records laws when they join the board,鈥� Orlando said in a statement. 鈥淚n addition, the general counsel attends every board meeting and retreat to help ensure the board is in compliance with all applicable state laws.鈥�
One trustee, Richard Cole, a Miami personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said in an interview the board has always tried to follow the Sunshine Law. Cole said the university鈥檚 top lawyer would have advised the board if meetings needed to be conducted openly.
Sarah Delphia Lynne, chair of UF鈥檚 Faculty Senate, attended this year鈥檚 retreat as the board鈥檚 faculty representative.
鈥淚t allows for an opportunity for a unit on our campus to really do a great informational deep dive with our trustees,鈥� Lynne said in a phone interview. 鈥淚t gives our trustees an opportunity to really know our campus so that they can advocate for us.鈥�
Hosseini did not respond to an email and message left with his administrative assistant. Trustee Marsha Decker Powers, a retired healthcare CEO, declined to discuss the private retreats. Other trustees also did not return phone and email messages. The university鈥檚 general counsel鈥檚 office also did not respond to two emails asking about the private meetings.
The legal history requiring such meetings to be public 鈥� when topics later will be subject to votes or actions by the board 鈥� includes rulings over decades by Florida鈥檚 Supreme Court and appellate judges and formal legal opinions by the attorney general鈥檚 office.
These include a 2023 opinion from Attorney General Ashley Moody that banned Florida universities from allowing outside search firms to anonymously survey members of presidential search committees. Moody wrote, 鈥淭he Sunshine Law applies to any gathering of two or more members of the same board to discuss any matter that might foreseeably come to that board for action.鈥�
In a 1985 case, Neu vs. Miami Herald Pub. Co., the Supreme Court upheld a lower appeals ruling after the Miami Herald sued under the Sunshine Law about city council meetings the public couldn鈥檛 attend. The court said all discussions of public matters are implicated under the Sunshine Law by votes that may take place later.
"Every step in the decision-making process, including the decision itself, is a necessary preliminary to formal action,鈥� the Supreme Court wrote in a 1969 case, Times Publishing Company v. Williams. 鈥淚t follows that each such step constitutes an 'official act,' an indispensable requisite to 'formal action,' within the meaning of the act."
An attorney general鈥檚 opinion in 1998 summarized earlier Supreme Court rulings and said, 鈥淭he courts have recognized that it is the entire decision-making process that is covered, not merely meetings at which a final vote is taken.鈥�
In a more recent case, the school board in Martin County, north of Palm Beach, paid $20,000 after a judge ruled in 2013 that it violated the Sunshine Law when it met privately to discuss issues about an adult education school.
The state Supreme Court said in a separate 1983 case, Wood v. Marston, that the Sunshine Law was intended to 鈥渇rustrate all evasive devices鈥� and said the law鈥檚 provisions must include 鈥渢he collective inquiry and discussion stages鈥� about matters that governing bodies might consider. That case involved UF鈥檚 student newspaper and others suing the university鈥檚 president over secretive practices for hiring a new law school dean.
Legal experts said the UF board has broken the law.
鈥淭heir actions are inconsistent with what the state attorney general says government agencies should do to follow the Sunshine Law in Florida,鈥� said David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Center for the Advancement of the First Amendment at the university.
鈥淲hen government bodies meet, they should be open for the public to watch, whether just talking or taking votes,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the right thing to do, to build the public鈥檚 trust and keep our leaders accountable.鈥�
Anthony Conticello, founder of the Conticello Law Firm in Tallahassee, which specializes in the Sunshine Law, also said the board鈥檚 private meetings broke the law. Conticello, a graduate of UF鈥檚 law school, noted that the university鈥檚 campus is home to the Brechner Center, which researches government transparency and advocates against policies that hide information from the public.
鈥淭hey should walk the walk,鈥� Conticello said.
Trustees at some other public universities 鈥� including the University of Central Florida, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic University and Florida Polytechnic University 鈥� hold meetings described as retreats but allow time for public comment, provide Zoom links for outsiders or provide a phone number to listen during such meetings.
Other schools, including Florida Gulf Coast University, the University of South Florida and New College of Florida, do not conduct retreats, private or otherwise.
Trustees at Florida International University last held a retreat in 2018 but allowed the public to attend. The board of the University of West Florida held a retreat in 2021 that was open to the public.
Florida State held its first off-campus retreat this year since 2018 in Miami, where the indicated no one from the public attended. It said, 鈥渘o action items will be heard, and no proposals will be voted on.鈥�
Violating Florida鈥檚 Sunshine Law could be prosecuted as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. That is unlikely in this case: Criminal prosecutions for sunshine violations are rare and jailing officials would require proving they knowingly broke the law. The governor can also remove from office board members who break the law, but DeSantis appointed eight of the UF board鈥檚 13 members. Unintentional violations carry a fine up to $500.
Brian Kramer, the newly re-elected Republican state prosecutor in Alachua County, which includes UF鈥檚 campus, said in an interview that a decision about prosecuting Sunshine Law violations would be based on three considerations: probable cause, likelihood to win the case, and whether their actions were justifiable. Kramer said his office also would need to determine whether an official intentionally broke the law and whether prosecution was in the public鈥檚 interest.
Kramer declined to say whether he believed the UF board had violated the law and said he did not want to review any of its meeting minutes.
The UF board鈥檚 formal notes from its private meetings, known as 鈥渕inutes,鈥� have not been published for the last two such retreats. The board turned over a copy of Jantz鈥檚 budget presentation from its September private meeting under Florida鈥檚 public records law.
At a private retreat in 2022, Hosseini recommended creating a new panel to review UF鈥檚 national rankings and formally appointed Powers, the board member, to the group. The meeting where this happened included representatives from the university but no members of the public, the minutes said.
During a 2019 private retreat, the board discussed a conflict of interest policy. It later generated national headlines when UF cited the same policy to temporarily block three prominent professors in 2021 from testifying in a voting rights lawsuit against DeSantis and other top state officials. No members of the public attended the 2019 meeting, the minutes said.
The 2018 meeting notes showed Hosseini asked the board during the private retreat to vote on a lease in Jacksonville for UF Health鈥檚 offices, which was unanimously approved. Attendees at the meeting included board members and university administrators but not members of the public, the minutes said.
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