Sarasota Sheriff’s Office charges $800 for Budget Documents, Refuses to Discuss

Record-holding agency: Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office
Date Requested: Oct. 14, 2025
Outcome: Resubmitted a more narrow request
Cost: $815.49

Suncoast Searchlight requested seven years of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office budget, including supporting documents used to create the budgets from 2019 through 2026. The request sought both the budget and actual spending expenditures at the agency, which received more than $220 million from taxpayers this fiscal year. The Sheriff’s Office provided a cost estimate of $815.49, claiming 17 hours of department staff time would be needed to find and redact the documents. When a reporter sought a more detailed explanation about the time and cost estimate, a records custodian said the agency does not discuss records requests. Suncoast Searchlight has submitted a more narrow request with hopes to lower the fee.