City Clerk and Public Records in Melbourne — Melbourne, Florida

Melbourne assigns custody of its records to one office. The City Clerk office page describes the City Clerk as a charter officer and department director, appointed by and working under the administrative direction of the City Manager, and names the City Clerk as the custodian of all City records. The City Clerk of Melbourne is Kevin McKeown. The office sits on the fifth floor of Melbourne City Hall at 900 East Strawbridge Avenue and lists 321-608-7220 and [email protected] as its contacts.

The Clerk reports through Melbourne's appointed administration. The City Manager office page identifies Jenni Lamb as City Manager, appointed by the City Council and responsible for all City personnel, and the Mayor page lists Paul Alfrey as Mayor for a term running from November 2024 to November 2028. Last verified: October 8, 2026, on the City of Melbourne website.

Record keeping is only part of the Melbourne job. According to the Clerk's page, the office also runs city elections, signs and attests contracts and bonds, prepares ordinances and resolutions for the City Council, oversees the special activity permits used for parades and street closures, and teaches city employees the Sunshine Law and the Public Records Law. The Run for City Council page adds that the City Clerk is the qualifying officer for Melbourne elections and that the Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.

Florida sets few formalities. The Florida Attorney General's open government FAQ explains that nothing in the public records law requires a request to be in writing or in person, that a custodian must honor a request made in person, over the telephone or in writing once required fees are paid, and that a requester does not have to give a reason. For general City of Melbourne records, the documented channels are the City Clerk's Office telephone line, its email address and its counter at City Hall.

Police records follow a separate path inside Melbourne government. The Melbourne Police Department Records Division page directs requesters to an online service, the department's NextRequest portal, and also takes requests by phone at 321-608-6590 or by fax at 321-608-6599. The Police Records window is open Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Mondays the window is closed, but online and fax requests are still received and processed.

A request to Melbourne can itself become a record. The city's Legal Disclaimer and Privacy Policy notes that e-mail addresses are public records under Florida law and that anyone who does not want an address released in response to a public records request should contact the City of Melbourne by phone or in writing instead of by e-mail. The same policy treats most information submitted through the city website as non-confidential and a public record.

The duty rests on state law that applies to Melbourne as a municipality. Article I, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution gives every person the right to inspect or copy any public record made or received in connection with official business, except records exempted by law. Section 119.01 of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes states that all state, county and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person and calls providing access a duty of each agency, which in Melbourne falls to the City Clerk as custodian.

The statute reaches well beyond paper files. Section 119.011 counts documents, letters, maps, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings and data processing software as public records, whatever the physical form, when made or received in connection with official business. For the City of Melbourne that covers council agendas, contracts the Clerk attests, permit files and records held by departments such as Police.

Section 119.07 sets the working rules. A custodian may name another employee to handle inspection but must disclose who that designee is. Custodians must acknowledge requests promptly and answer in good faith, which the statute defines as making reasonable efforts to find out from other employees whether a record exists and where it can be seen. In Melbourne the Clerk's Office is also the office that trains city staff on those duties.

Chapter 119 caps the default charges that Melbourne and other agencies may collect. Where no other fee is set by law, Section 119.07(4) allows up to 15 cents per one-sided copy of pages up to 14 by 8 1/2 inches, no more than an extra 5 cents for a two-sided copy, the actual cost of duplication for other copies, and up to $1 for a certified copy. A reasonable special service charge may be added when the nature or volume of a request requires extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance.

The Melbourne Police Records Division publishes its own schedule within those limits: copies are free of charge for 10 pages or fewer, and longer records cost $0.15 for single-sided copies and $0.20 for double-sided copies. The Attorney General's FAQ summarizes the same statutory pattern, describing the 15 cent per page default and the $1 certified copy charge, so the police schedule in Melbourne matches the state ceiling for one-sided pages while waiving short requests.

Exemptions exist only where the Legislature creates them, and Chapter 119 lists many in Section 119.071. Two examples apply to almost any Melbourne file that holds personal data: social security numbers held by an agency are confidential and exempt, and bank account numbers and debit, charge and credit card numbers held by an agency are exempt. Personnel files are a mixed case; the Attorney General's FAQ says they are open unless specifically exempted, while noting that numerous statutory exemptions apply to them.

When a Melbourne custodian withholds something, the statute dictates how. Under Section 119.07(1), only the exempt portion is redacted and the remainder of the record must be produced for inspection and copying. The custodian must state the basis of the exemption, including the statutory citation, and, if the requester asks, must explain in writing and with particularity why the record is exempt.

Some Melbourne records carry timed restrictions. The Police Records Division explains that accident reports are exempt from disclosure for the first 60 days after the accident, though during that window they may go to involved parties, their legal representatives and their insurers who file a written sworn statement. Accident reports are kept available for the current year plus three years prior. Section 119.12 backs the system with a remedy: if a court finds an agency unlawfully refused access, it awards reasonable enforcement costs, including attorney fees, against that agency.