Alachua County, FL Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)
Key Facts
- Exempt category
- Student/faculty filming for educational purposes, § 402.153(a)(1)d
- Exemption condition
- No street/ROW/sidewalk closure, no parking impact
- Loses exemption
- Any closure triggers full § 402.153 permit
- Standard permit lead time
- 15 calendar days, § 402.153(c)(1)
- Penalty if unpermitted
- Up to $500 fine / 60 days jail, § 10.08
Summary
Student and faculty filming done exclusively for educational purposes is exempt from Alachua County's temporary filming permit under Section 402.153(a)(1)d: as long as the shoot doesn't close a public street, right-of-way, or sidewalk and doesn't create on-street parking impacts. Step outside those conditions and the full Section 402.153 permit applies regardless of the academic purpose.
The following filming activities are exempt from this Article provided that public streets, rights-of-way, and public sidewalks are not closed due to the activity and the activity does not create on-street parking impacts:a.Filming activity for print or electronic news media when filming news events, newspaper, press association, newsreel or television news by media personnel.b.Filming activity with a film production crew and talent of fourteen (14) people or less.c.Individuals filming or videotaping for noncommercial personal or family use only.d.Student and faculty filming activity exclusively for educational purposes.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
' That exemption sits alongside similar carve-outs for news media covering ongoing events, productions with a crew and talent of fourteen people or fewer, and purely personal or family video: all grouped together because none of them strains public infrastructure the way a commercial shoot does. ' A University of Florida class project that shoots on a sidewalk without blocking it, or on private property with the owner's permission, needs no county filming permit at all. 153(b)–(d) as any commercial production.
Violations & Fines
A student or faculty production that exceeds the 'educational purposes' exemption, for example, by closing a street or creating parking impacts, but proceeds without applying for the Section 402.153 permit is treated as an unpermitted temporary filming use. That exposes the production to the same enforcement path as a commercial shoot: mandatory cessation of the activity, and injunction or the penalties in Sections 10.08–10.09 of the County Code, up to a $500 fine or 60 days in jail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a University of Florida student film project need a county permit?
Does the student exemption cover a faculty-led documentary shoot on campus grounds off county roads?
What if a student film needs to shut down a road for a scene?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Alachua County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Alachua County to another location·View the Florida filming & production overview
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