Newspaper Page Text
Friday, August 23,2013
Tribune & Georgian
7A
Georgia Open Meetings
and Open Records Laws
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V Editor’s note: The following is a brief explanation of Georgia's open meetings and open
records laws. It is not the actual text of either law, but a summary provided by the Georgia
Press Association and the Law Enforcement Officer's Guide to Open Records in Georgia.
For a full description or text of any of these provisions, consult Georgia law.
I. Answering questions
Georgia law does not require public officers
or employees to answer questions from the
press or the public. What the law does require is
that the public be given access to information
through open meetings and open records as dis
cussed in the following.
II. Meetings
A. What meetings are open?
The open meetings law applies to every:
state, county or municipal department, agency,
board, bureau, commission or authority; every
city, county or regional authority, including de
velopment and hospital authorities. These ap
plications include any committee of its
members created by any of the above authori
ties. It also applies to private entities that carry
out the functions of a public agency (e.g. pri
vate companies that take over the operations of
public hospitals). It applies to personnel board
hearings (except for deliberations), tax equal
ization boards and to coroners' inquests. It also
applies to any non-profit organization that re
ceives at least a third of its funds from state or
local tax revenues. • Meetings occur when by
prior arrangement there is a quorum of the
members of a governing body or agency or any
committee of its members, and public business
is discussed or presented.
B. What meetings can be legally
closed or are not covered by the law?
A government agency is not required to
close any meeting; however, it may vote in
public to close a meeting and continue in exec
utive session to discuss the following:
the acquisition or disposal of real estate •
the settlements of lawsuits or claims against an
agency • prospective employees and personnel
matters, including evaluations and discipline of
public officers or employees; however, any ac
tion taken on these matters must occur in an
open meeting. In addition, a meeting may not
be closed when evidence or argument is pre
sented on a personnel matter. • privileged con
sultations with an attorney regarding pending
or potential action or claims • documents the
disclosure of which are exempt under the open
records act
C. Under the new law, agencies may interview
prospective employees for the "position of ex
ecutive head of an agency" in a closed session.
However, this is limited only to high end level
positions of "executive head." This would
likely include such positions as a school super
intendent, city manager or county manager but
not lesser positions such as a department head,
principal, athletic director or football coach.
D. Also, the state board of pardons and paroles
may close its meetings while deliberating or
voting, or if the board determines that wit
nesses would be at risk if the meeting was
open. Staff meetings held for investigative pur
poses as required by law may be closed, as well
as meetings of the Georgia Bureau of Investi
gation or other law enforcement bodies; adop
tion proceedings; and hospital authority
meetings when discussing the awarding or rev
ocation of staff privileges, or the granting of
abortions. Hospital authorities may also discuss
competitive plans and strategies in a closed
meeting.
E. Meetings may be closed when an agency
conducts an inspection of physical facilities
under its jurisdiction; when an agency meets
with other govern
ment officials (e.g. at
tending conventions
or meetings or when
traveling to such a
meeting, or when at
tending a social or ceremo
nial event); for mediation of
lawsuits or claims (however, docu
ments pertaining to any settlement are
open records).
F. Notice of meetings
The regular time and place of agency or
committee meetings shall be posted at least
one week in advance and in a conspicuous
place at the regular meeting place, and also on
the agency's website, if any. • Special meet
ings: When a meeting is held other than at the
regular scheduled time and place, written or
oral notice shall be given at least 24 hours in
advance to the legal organ newspaper or to a
newspaper of general circulation. If the agency
meets in a county where the legal organ news
paper is published less than four times weekly,
any newspaper or broadcaster in the county
may request in advance to be notified verbally
or by fax or email at least 24 hours in advance
of a called meeting. When notice is given to a
newspaper, it must share that information with
any member of the public who makes inquiry.
Upon written request in advance, the agency
must provide a copy of the agenda along with
notice of the special meeting. • Emergency
meetings: When special circumstances re
quire a special meeting with less than 24
hours' notice, reasonable notice must be
given under the circumstances, including no
tice to the legal organ newspaper or a newspa
per with general circulation in the county. The
notice shall specify the reason why the meet
ing is held with less than 24 hours' notice.
Such notice, if requested within the previous
calendar year, must be given by telephone, fax
or email to a requesting media.
III. Records
A. What records are open?
• All documents, papers, letters, maps,
books, tapes, photographs, computer-based or
generated information, or similar material pre
pared and maintained or received in the course
of the operation of a public office or agency.
Agencies must have record retention policies.
Public records also include these items when
they are received or maintained by a private
person or entity on behalf of a public office or
agency and that are not otherwise subject to
protection from disclosure.
B. How and when are records to be
produced? What are the costs?
Agencies must produce records within a
reasonable time not to exceed three business
days after a request. Note: If an agency has
designated a person to receive written re
quests, the three days do not start until re
ceipt by that person. • If all the records
cannot be produced within three days, those
that can should be. • If the agency cannot re
spond within three days, it shall within three
days describe the records and provide a time
line for production which shall be as soon as
practicable. • The law allows requests to be
made orally or in writing. An agency may
designate a person or office to receive written
requests: a director, chairperson, chief execu
tive or other senior official, or a designated
records custodian or open records officer.
Such a person must be designated, too, a each
satellite office of an agency. The absence of
the designated person does not extend the
time for a response. • An agency must give
notice within three days of the specific code
section, subsection and paragraph the agency
relies on to deny the request. • A member of
the public may use portable devices brought
to an agency office to make copies. However,
the agency may elect to provide the copies it
self when it elects to redact confidential in
formation. • Agencies may charge redaction,
search and retrieval costs. The agency must
use the most economical means reasonably
available. It must use the lowest paid full
time employee with the skill and training to
perform the work, and the first fifteen min
utes is free. Copying costs are reduced to 10
cents per page for regular size documents and
to actual cost for others. For electronic
records, an agency may charge the cost of the
media on which the information is produced.
• A request for email messages shall provide,
if known, name, title, office and specific dates
or data bases for the agency's search. • An
agency shall not be required to prepare re
ports, summaries or non-existent compila
tions in response to a records request.
C. What records are not open?
Records exempted by federal statute or
regulation • Medical or veterinary records the
disclosure of which would invade personal
privacy • Law enforcement records may be
withheld if they would likely disclose the
identity of a confidential source, confidential
investigative or prosecution material which
would endanger the life or physical safety of a
person, or the existence of a confidential sur
veillance or investigation. • Law enforcement
records in a pending investigation or prosecu
tion may be withheld. However, initial police
arrest and incident reports are public. Also,
this exception does not apply to records in the
possession of an agency that is involved with a
pending investigation or prosecution. Addi
tionally, in regards to initial police arrest re
ports and incident reports, any report,
whether entitled a "supplemental report,"
"narrative report," or similar document name
that is produced as part of an initial incident
report or can be characterized as such, is like
wise to be disclosed. • Motor vehicle accident
reports and other driving data • Jury list data
and personal identity information on jurors
• Confidential evaluations and exams for po
tential employees • Employee investigations
are exempt until 10 days after the results have
been presented to the agency or an officer of
the agency or the investigation is otherwise
concluded or terminated. • Real estate valua
tion records and studies • Bids and cost esti
mates are exempt from disclosure until the
contract is awarded or terminated or the
agency takes a public vote regarding a bid or
proposal. • Records which would identify a
person being considered for employment as
"executive head of an agency" may be withheld
until 14 days prior to the vote or action to make
the hiring. Also, the documents disclosed may
be limited to as few as three finalists under con
sideration. • Records provided by staff offices
to members of the General Assembly • Histori
cal research records • Department of Natural
Resources historic property records • Farm
water use • Department of Agriculture critical
food system records • National animal identi
fication system • Records regarding the loca
tion of sensitive habitats for plants and
animals; owners of such properties may ob
tain the records • Records that reveal the
identity of persons and addresses involved in
neighborhood watch or public safety pro
grams • Private identity information (e.g. So
cial Security numbers, mother's name, credit
card information, etc.} • Records that would
identify children under the Department of
Early Care and Learning program • Elec
tronic signatures • Carpooling or ride share
information • Security documents (e.g. court
house security plans) • Personal identity infor
mation found on 911 phone records • Toll road
records • Donor information to public col
leges and universities • MARTA travel
records • Building mapping information for
security purposes • Evidence of pornography
• Retirement system investment records •
Trade secrets • University research and pro
prietary documents • Additional research
data • Student records under FERPA • Test
ing data • Participants in health studies •
Firearm licenses • Attorney client privileged
documents • Records with tax information
made confidential under state or federal law •
Computer software information • Insurance
rating data • Department of Economic De
velopment documents • Job training records
