His experience outraged Barbara Petersen, president of the open government watchdog group First Amendment Foundation and the chair of a commission on open government formed by Gov. Charlie Crist.

''How much do you think it costs to have the lawyer write a letter to Gary Fineout?'' Petersen asked. ``Why do they go to all that effort because someone makes a public records request? And then to have the attorney write him a letter! It's such a simple thing.''

The problem wasn't just limited to smaller, rural counties. The sheriff's offices and school district offices in Miami-Dade, Broward and Duval counties all failed to comply with the law, as did the Orange, Palm Beach and Pinellas County sheriff's offices. Overall, county administrative offices were the best at providing records, with only about a quarter failing to comply with the law. Sheriff's offices were the worst, with more than 60 percent failing to comply.

While less than 1 in 3 checks produced an e-mail, most auditors reported people they dealt with were cooperative, indicating a willingness to help, but a lack of knowledge of records laws.

''It's often the ones that meet and greet the public who don't know what the law is. They ask for a name or ask for something to be put in writing because they don't know they're inadvertently breaking the law,'' said JoAnn Carrin, who runs Crist's Office of Open Government.

More training will help, but Carrin acknowledged that some agencies, particularly in tight budget years, may not see open government training as important.

''Is it a critical mission for the agency? Responding to the public should be,'' she said. ``We work for the public. We work for the people. It should be a priority.''

Waters, who is an education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, usually doesn't have a problem getting records in her professional role. So she was surprised at what happened when she asked for records as if she were just a regular citizen.

Jefferson County School Superintendent Phil Barker asked Waters who she was. Waters asked him if she had to give her name to get the record.

''Well, I don't know. I think so,'' Barker said.

Barker's secretary, Shirley Cannon, readily admits she doesn't understand open government laws and that Waters' request caught her off guard.

''When she came in and she didn't identify herself, it seemed kind of suspicious. These days you've got to be careful,'' Cannon said, explaining why her license plate was run. ``We did that out of just safety precautions.''

''I meant no disrespect to her. I didn't intend to break the law,'' said Cannon, who added that she wants open government training and that newly elected Superintendent Bill Brumfield hopes to provide it to his staff.

Cannon said if Waters had just let her know she was a reporter, she would have been glad to help. ``I would have knocked myself out to make sure she got it.''

That's the problem. The laws are meant to benefit everybody, not just the media.

''I was just a regular person asking for an e-mail, but I feel like if I had come in there as TaMaryn Waters, an education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, I would have gotten it,'' Waters said. ``It was a totally different response and that's just not right.''

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