Agency contacted: Bibb County Superior Court Clerk

Records that were requested: Bibb County Clerk of Superior Court’s contract with Cott System or other provider to run the clerk’s eCommerce search site

When do you first hear back from the agency?: I originally submitted my request on Oct. 13 and first heard back from the agency four days later on Oct. 17. The officer then requested an additional three business days to respond to my request. However, I received no reply from her over the next 10 days. I then followed up again on Oct. 27  reminding her of the request and she responded later that day.

Did the agency request a fee and if so, how did they explain the charge?: The agency did not require a fee for this request.

Describe the response: The agent stated that she had been on vacation and forgot to activate her automatic email responses. She requested an additional three business days to respond to my request since she had just gotten back into the office. However, I received no reply from her over the next 10 days. I then followed up again on Oct. 27 reminding her of the request. Later that day she responded, letting me know that the record I was requesting did not exist.

Assign a grade for contact/process: I give the Bibb County Clerk of Superior Court a ‘C’ for the agency’s ease of contacting agency staff and filing public records request. The agency’s website does have contact information for its officers available, but there is no other specific information available for filing open records requests.

Assign a grade for response: I give the Bibb County Clerk of Superior Court a ‘C’ for the agency’s overall responsiveness and compliance with open record law. It took the officer four days to respond to my original request which already exceeds the allotted maximum response time. After explaining that she had been on vacation with no automated email replies in place, the officer then requested an additional three days to respond but did not follow up for an additional ten days. After following up with the officer she replied notifying me that the record didn’t exist. This showed me that she had not even considered my request until two weeks after I filed it.

Anything else to note? Though the response time was not ideal, the officer was very kind and respectful in her responses. 

See the full report card here.

Grading scale for agency’s ease of contacting agency staff and finding or filing for public records.

A: Agency uses an online portal or has a clearly defined process or contact on its website for requesting public records. An “A” agency may also provide the most commonly requested records on its website already such as agendas and meeting minutes.

B: Agency has some public information online such as meeting agendas or meeting times but additional information on how to request public information is not available.

C: Agency website has contact information for staff but nothing specific about how to request public information.

D: Agency has limited contact information on its website but it is not clearly labeled and/or easily accessible.

F: Agency contact information or how to get public records is not available on the website 

Grade scale for agency’s overall responsiveness and compliance with open records law

A: Provided records within the three-day window or less

B Acknowledgment of request within the three-day requirement but records were provided after three days.

C:  Acknowledged the request but then put forth a long timetable for response or requested a high fee or retrieval price for what should be a digital record and/or PDF that could be emailed.

D: Acknowledged the request but no further information or follow-up.

F:  No response