FOIA and Public Records
Axcess1 Florida
FOIA and Public Records management, built around Chapter 119, F.S.
Built around your law — not around generic case management.
Built around your law — not around generic case management
Many case-management products ask a public body to adapt its process to the software. Axcess1 is configured around the legislation, the procedures, the vocabulary and the reporting obligations of each jurisdiction. An organization chooses its Act once; every screen, deadline, letter and report then follows it.
Generic case management
The organization adapts to the software.
Axcess1
The software follows the legislation and the way government works.
Legislation supported
Public Records, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes (2026); Art. I, s. 24, Florida Constitution)
| What the Act requires | As configured in Axcess1 |
|---|---|
| Who it applies to | "Agency" in s. 119.011(2): any state, county, district, authority or municipal officer, department, division, board, bureau, commission or other separate unit of government created or established by law, including the Commission on Ethics, the Public Service Commission and the Office of Public Counsel, and any other public or private agency, person, partnership, corporation or business entity acting on behalf of any public agency. |
| Time limit to respond | The Act sets no fixed time limit (s. 119.07(1)(a), (c) ("at any reasonable time"; acknowledge "promptly" and respond "in good faith")). Axcess1 tracks each request against a working target of 5 working days, which your office can change. |
| Extensions | Chapter 119 sets no response deadline and therefore no extension. The custodian must acknowledge requests promptly and respond in good faith, including reasonable efforts to find out whether the record exists and where it can be accessed (s. 119.07(1)(c)). The 5 business days in this pack is a working target, not a statutory limit; the organization may change it. |
| Third parties | The Act sets no formal notice; consultations are recorded and tracked on the request. |
| Decision and reasons | The decision letter gives the reasons, the provision relied on and the right of review (s. 119.07(1)(d), (e), (f)). |
| Fees | No application fee. Amounts in U.S. dollars (USD). Unless another fee is prescribed by law: up to 15 cents per one-sided copy (not more than 14 x 8½ inches), no more than 5 cents more for a two-sided copy, actual cost of duplication for other copies, up to $1 per certified copy (s. 119.07(4)(a), (c)). A reasonable special service charge may be added when the request requires extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance (s. 119.07(4)(d)). |
| Review and complaints | the court (civil action to enforce Chapter 119, s. 119.11); voluntary mediation by the Office of the Attorney General (s. 16.60) (s. 119.11; s. 119.12(1)(b); s. 16.60) |
Loaded for this Act
- 28 provisions (exemptions, exceptions and exclusions) ready to cite on a redaction, each with its section number.
- Request types: Public records request (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes).
- Statutory steps on the timeline: Request acknowledged promptly, s. 119.07(1)(c) (good-faith response; the statute sets no fixed deadline); Special service charge quoted, s. 119.07(4)(d) (extensive use of information technology resources or of clerical or supervisory assistance); Exemption asserted: basis stated with the statutory citation, s. 119.07(1)(e); exempt portion redacted and the remainder produced, s. 119.07(1)(d); Written statement of reasons requested by the requester, s. 119.07(1)(f) (in writing and with particularity); Record retained: no disposal for 30 days after a written request, even if the custodian asserts it is not a public record, s. 119.07(1)(h); Written notice of the request received from the requester before a civil action, s. 119.12(1)(b) (5 business days before filing); Mediation — Attorney General's public records mediation program, s. 16.60 (voluntary); Civil action to enforce Chapter 119, s. 119.11(1) (immediate hearing, priority over other pending cases)….
Checked against the published text on 2026-10-03. Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature) — The 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 119, Public Records (entire chapter) · Online Sunshine — Constitution of the State of Florida, Art. I, s. 24, Access to public records and meetings · Online Sunshine — s. 16.60, Florida Statutes, Public records mediation program within the Office of the Attorney General
Legislation-to-feature matrix
| Legislative requirement | Axcess1 support |
|---|---|
| Statutory deadline | Working target of 5 working days: calculated automatically for each request; overdue and upcoming requests on the dashboard. |
| Extensions and holds | Recorded as events that move the due date, each tied to its section of the Act. |
| Exemptions and exclusions | The provisions of Chapter 119, F.S. in the redaction editor, each with its section number. |
| Third parties and consultations | Notices, consultation packages and their due dates tracked on the request. |
| Fees | Fee notices and payments recorded on the request. |
| Reviews, appeals and complaints | Recorded on the request timeline with their dates and outcome. |
| Redaction | Done by the analyst in the built-in editor; optional AI suggestions that the analyst accepts or rejects. |
| Decision letters | Generated from templates for this Act, with the provisions cited. |
| Release | A release package built from the reviewed records; redactions are permanent in the released file. |
| Annual statistics | Annual access statistics for the period, with each figure traceable to its requests. |
| Audit trail | Every action on a request is recorded with the user and the time. |
From request to release
1Receive and validate
The request is entered with its type, requester and date received; a number is issued from your own numbering pattern.
2Calculate the deadline
The due date follows the Act: Working target of 5 working days. Holds and extensions move it and are recorded.
3Assign and search
The request is assigned to an officer; the units holding records are tasked and their answers tracked.
4Collect and review
Records are uploaded (PDF, Office files, scans with text recognition) and reviewed page by page.
5Apply the provisions and redact
The analyst marks a passage and picks the provision of this Act; the released copy shows the section relied on.
6Consult
Consultation packages are produced per party, with their due dates.
7Approve
The response goes to the approver's inbox for review and signature.
8Release
The release package and the decision letter are generated from the request.
9Report
Requests, processing times, decisions and provisions invoked are counted for the period you choose.
Agentic AI across the lifecycle
AI is switched off until your administrator turns it on, one capability at a time. AI assists. Authorized officials decide.
Intake agent
Proposes a new request from a message, the portal or a drop folder; an officer confirms it.
Document intelligence
Summarizes and classifies the records and finds the people and organizations named in them.
Responsiveness agent
Suggests which records answer the request.
Exemption assist
Proposes provisions of Chapter 119, F.S. with reasons; redaction candidates appear in the editor.
Consultation agent
Suggests who should be consulted and on which pages.
Quality assurance agent
Checks a package a second time before release.
Deadline watch
Lists the requests at risk of running late.
Copilot
Answers questions about a request, citing the records it used.
Migration
Case history, requesters and documents are brought over from the system you use today, so you do not start from an empty database.
Deployment
Hosted by SoftSim in Canada, on your own private cloud or servers, or standalone on a PC or Mac.
Security
Each organization's records are separate, access is controlled by role and every action is recorded. Run on your own servers, your records never leave your premises.
Try it free for 30 days
One licence, the full product, no obligation. Or see it first in a 30-minute demonstration.
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Axcess1 supports configurable workflows designed around the applicable legislation. Government organizations remain responsible for legal interpretation and statutory decisions. Summaries of the legislation are paraphrases prepared from the published text; they are not legal advice.