"A lawsuit filed last month against the City of Madeira Beach, Florida alleges that officials violated the Sunshine Law when they decided behind closed doors to fire city attorney Ralf Brookes, replacing him with former city attorney Tom Trask, in a ploy to push development deals.

"The stakes in this case are especially high. If a court rules in the plaintiffs' favor, a turnover in Madeira's governing ranks would likely follow.

"That's because a city charter amendment, passed by voters in 2019, requires commissioners who knowingly violate the Sunshine Law to forfeit their office.

"Among other things, Florida's Sunshine Law requires that all discussions of government business among elected officials occur during open meetings, where the public can listen in and where there are set rules about how the meeting is conducted and documented. If two or more elected officials discuss business outside of the public's view, that constitutes a violation of the law.

"'The Sunshine Law requires that meetings of boards or commissions must be open to the public; reasonable notice of such meetings must be given, and minutes of the meeting must be taken,' reads the website for the office of Florida's Attorney General.

In addition to laying out rules for open meetings, the law provides the public with a right to access documents pertaining to official business. That includes emails, meeting notes and personal memos made by those working in a governmental role.

"Sunshine Lawsuits aren't all that common, according to Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. That's because they can be difficult to prove and lengthy to litigate. Often, the reward for doing so is limited to reversal of a government decision. There isn't monetary gain.

"LoMonte said that he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case, but he said the appointment of a city attorney is a major decision, and for any governing body to make that decision without public interviews or discussion is cause for concern.

"'When a decision of that magnitude is made in a snap, it raises all kinds of suspicions that the real meeting took place outside of the public eye,' LoMonte said. 'You don't normally make a decision of that consequence in a minute. That starts to sound like the decision was really reached offline.'"