Moody takes legal action against ACC after conference allegedly withholds records from FSU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday for withholding public records from Florida State University.

According to a press release by Moody’s office, the conference claimed that the school could owe them over $500 million due to media rights contracts.

“The ACC is asking a state entity—Florida State University—to potentially pay and lose more than a half a billion dollars but is refusing to produce the documents related to that outrageous price tag,” Moody said. “We sent a public records request to the ACC in January, but they failed to fully comply. We are taking legal action against the ACC for wrongfully withholding these important public records.”

Moody argued in the lawsuit that the media rights contracts are public records because they were made or received in connection with the official business of a public state university.

She also pointed to how matters of public concern do not become private matters simply because the documents are kept with a private organization, like the conference.

Moody is ultimately arguing for the court to find that the conference improperly withheld the media rights contracts and are to immediately provide the requested records.