Public meeting to follow closed Fort Walton Beach City Council session on pending litigation on May 19
Fort Walton Beach, Florida – Fort Walton Beach residents will see two City Council meetings on the calendar Tuesday, May 19, 2026, but only one will begin with the usual public setting.
The City Council is scheduled to meet at City Hall for a 5 p.m. special meeting, followed by its 6 p.m. regular meeting. The first gathering, however, will be handled differently because it has been set as an Executive Session, meaning it will be closed to the public.
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City officials said the 5 p.m. session will focus on pending litigation involving the City. Because of that, attendance will be limited to the City Council, the City Manager and attorneys connected to the case. The City noted that the meeting is closed and exempt from public access under Section 447.605(1) and 286.011 of the Florida Statutes.
The closed session does not mean final decisions can be made away from public view. If any official action is required, the City Council must return to an open meeting before taking a vote. That step would allow the public portion of the process to happen in the open, even though legal discussion tied to the pending case will take place behind closed doors.
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The Executive Session will also be documented. According to the City, the entire closed meeting will be transcribed by a certified court reporter and filed with the City Clerk. The transcript will become part of the public record once the litigation connected to the session has concluded.
After the special meeting, the Council is scheduled to move into its regular meeting at 6 p.m. That meeting is expected to follow the usual public format, with agenda information available through the City of Fort Walton Beach’s Meeting Agendas, Minutes, and Video portal. The City says meetings can also be viewed live through that portal or on the City of Fort Walton Beach’s YouTube page.
The City posted the meeting notice on May 15, giving residents several days to review the schedule and follow the public portion of Tuesday’s proceedings. The two meetings place both legal business and regular council work on the same evening, with the closed session set first and the public meeting scheduled immediately afterward.
