A Washington Post lawsuit to force the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to comply with a series of public document requests has evolved into an effort to overturn a newly passed law banning the release of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ travel records.

The Post filed its initial complaint in the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County on July 17. The complaint alleged that the department had engaged in ongoing and unjustified delays in releasing public records requested by newspaper employees and urged the court to compel the release of the documents.

In motions filed at the end of October, the plaintiff’s attorneys seemed to raise the stakes and took aim at Senate Bill 1616, which became law May 11. That bill proclaimed records relating to security or transportation services provided to the governor and his family members were exempt from the state’s public records law.