Georgia law broadly says most information created and maintained by taxpayer-funded organizations should be available to the public upon request.

The reality is what gets shared can vary by agency and many have their own internal policies for managing what are called open records requests. Some agencies make information available on their website such as meeting times and agendas, key contracts and budgets, while others have a less-than-clear process for public access.

Last month, students at Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism sent open records requests to eight agencies in Macon-Bibb County and eight state agencies in an effort to test their compliance with Georgia’s law and gauge their accessibility to members of the public. 

Results varied by agency

Some agencies had a straightforward process for how to request information and provided it promptly while others had delayed response times or asked for unreasonable fees.

The law allows organizations three business days to respond to a requester with either the records or an estimated time and cost for producing them. The law permits agencies  to charge “reasonable fees” for finding, copying and in some cases redacting records. The first 15 minutes of work on an open records response is free but agencies can charge for the remaining time it takes to fulfill the request. That time must be charged at a rate that “shall not exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee who, in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the request.”

Each student  requested a copy of a contract or service agreement as those are often records agencies have readily available and in a digital format. The goal was to make requests that would not require more than 15 minutes to fulfill –  the threshold for keeping the fulfillment of the request free.

We used a rubric to assign a letter grade to each of the 16 agencies. We have graded the agencies we contacted based on their compliance with the law when it comes to response time and fees. You can see our grading grid below and click on the organization name for more information on each of the agency’s specific response.

* The UDA updated its website following publication of this report card and would receive an A if it were contacted now for records.

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 no details 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 website does not include contact information or any instructions for how to request 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: Acknowledged  the request within the three-day requirement but took more time to provide the records 

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