Q. Can you provide me with some information or where I should look on the subject of emails between board members and the sunshine law?
A. The Sunshine Law (found in sections 286.011 and .012, Florida Statutes) does not apply to community associations, which are subject to the open meeting provisions of statutes applicable to community associations the Condominium Act, the Cooperative Act or the Homeowners’ Association law. Each of these laws provides that when a quorum of the board gathers to conduct Association business, that is a meeting and must be preceded by a notice of at least 48 hours and the owners are allowed to attend and participate in the meeting.
As to the issue of emails between the board members, that is personal to the board members. As long as the board is not reaching conclusions or agreements by email they are free to communicate amongst themselves in that medium. All decisions should be made and recorded as part of the minutes of each board meeting. A recent arbitration decision held that emails between board members were not official records of the Association and the other members do not have the access to those emails.Note however, emails between board members and management could be considered official records and open to inspection and copying by the members of the Association.
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