Earlier this month, students in Mercer University’s Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism sent open records requests to agencies in Macon-Bibb, Houston, Jones and Monroe counties in an effort to check their compliance with Georgia’s law and gauge their accessibility to members of the public. You can see a list of all the grades here.

Agency: Houston County Commission   

Records that were requested: I requested a copy of the minutes from the Houston County Board of Commissioners meeting held on June 18, 2024.

When do you first hear back from the agency? I filed the open records request on Oct. 1, 2024, at 12:08 p.m. and heard back from the agency the same day at 3:08 p.m.  

Did the agency request a fee? No, the agency did not request a payment.

Describe the response: The Chairman of the Houston County Board responded with the summary and minutes of the Houston County Commissioners Meeting on June 18, 2024. In the response, he also asked me to ensure that the record sent provided me with everything I had requested.  

Assign a grade for contact/process: A. I would assign the Houston County Commissioners Office an A for their contact/process time. Because the agency quickly responded to my request and sent the record to me within a few hours. 

Assign a grade for response: A I would assign the Houston County Commissioners Office an A for their response time. The agency responded promptly and sought to ensure that all the information I requested was in the document sent to me.

Grading scale for the 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 readily provide the most commonly  requested records on its website, including 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. There is contact information available for staff.

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 Acknowledgedf the 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.

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