Source: http://gwmac.com/georgias-sunshine-laws-fifth-edition-2014/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 05:00:49+00:00

Document:
The fifth edition of the extremely informative and valuable resource for all citizens and journalists alike has been released. It is available for free as a PDF here. I am including the raw text in an article because I realize search engines can sometimes have a hard time with PDF’s and so I wanted to make sure it is easily searchable, available, and readable to people on older mobile devices as well. I bet you will find something you didn’t know in this guide. For example, did you know that Non-profit organizations that receive more than one-third of their funds from a direct allocation of state funds from the governing authority of an agency are also subject to open record requests? Here in Macon that is a very valuable bit of information I imagine people did not know about.
Please share this PDF with everyone you think it could help. Sunshine is the best disinfectant and unless citizens are aware and use their rights under the law then government corruption and incompetence will keep Georgia in 50th place. This is a very good and easily understandable guide that everyone should read.
open government laws as a result of a collaborative effort undertaken by my office, key legislators and representatives of various interested groups, including the media. The new law, the first significant re- write of the Sunshine Laws in over a decade, first became effective on April 17, 2012. I am hopeful that these changes and this publi- cation will make it much easier for everyone – citizens, the media and public officials – to understand and comply with the law. After all, transparency and access to government are critical to a thriving democracy.
The Georgia First Amendment Foundation received funding for this project from Cox Media Group, Inc., the Georgia Press Association, and the Marietta Daily Journal Community Foundation. This docu- ment was prepared by the Attorney General Sam Olens, Senior As- sistant Attorney General Stefan Ernst Ritter, Peter Canfield of Jones Day, Kristen Rasmussen, David Hudson of HullBarrett, P.C., and by Hollie Manheimer of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.
Those statutory materials reprinted or quoted verbatim on the following pages are taken from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Copyright 2013 by State of Georgia, and are reprinted with the permission of the State of Georgia. All rights reserved.
Principles of openness in government are found in the Constitution of Georgia, the common-law of the State of Georgia, and our state statutes. The two Acts that apply to most meetings and records are known as the “Sunshine Laws,” which in 2012 underwent their first major revision in more than a decade. These consist of the Open and Public Meetings Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 50-14-1 through 6) and the Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 50-18-70 through 77). Complete copies of these statutes are found in the Appendices to this booklet.
The starting place under Georgia law for citizens seeking to attend meetings of gov- ernmental bodies or to inspect governmental records is the presumption that the meetings and records are open. For instance, O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(b)(1) states: “Ex- cept as otherwise provided by law, all meetings shall be open to the public….” Simi- larly, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70(a) declares “a strong presumption” in favor of inspection, stating that public records should be made available “without delay.” The Act should be broadly construed to allow inspection, and its exceptions interpreted narrowly. The Attorney General has, historically, helped citizens enforce their rights under the Sunshine Laws and has issued numerous opinions concerning them. In 1998, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia amended both the Open Meetings Law and the Open Records Law to give the Attorney General specific authority to enforce the Sunshine Laws (O.C.G.A § 50-14-5 and § 50-18-73, as amended) in his discre- tion. That authority has been enhanced by the sweeping revisions enacted in 2012.
The purpose of this booklet is to provide a brief, general and non-technical discus- sion of Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, so that the citizens of Georgia may better partici- pate in open government.
2 Ga. CONST. art. I, § 2, para. 1.
the association itself receives a substantial part of its budget from agencies.
Non-profit organizations that receive more than one-third of their funds from a direct allocation of state funds from the governing authority of an agency.
A. What Records Are Available To The Public?
A diverse array of information useful to citizens for a variety of purposes is avail- able for public inspection and copying. Just a few examples of documents subject to the Open Records Law are: police incident reports; public officials’ salaries and expense reports; municipal bid offers; licensing, permitting, and zoning regula- tions and decisions; reports of restaurants’ sanitation conditions; campaign con- tributors and amounts; and education budgets.
11 O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(b); City of Brunswick v. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 214 Ga. App.
Open records requests may be made to any custodian of the desired records. A written request is not required but is advisable to eliminate any dispute as to what was requested or when the request was made. Only requests made in writing are subject to criminal and civil enforcement proceedings and penalties in the Law.14 In addition, an agency can require that all written requests go to a specifically designated records custodian who must be identified on the agency’s website if it has one.15 A sample open records request is attached as Appendix 3 to this booklet.
Public agencies may charge a reasonable fee for copies of public documents but usually may not charge more than 10¢ per page.21 Agencies may also charge those requesting documents for search, retrieval, redaction and other administrative costs. Hourly charges for administrative tasks may not exceed the salary of the lowest paid, full-time employee who, in the discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the request. No charge may be made for the first quarter hour of administrative time. And, agencies must provide copies of the requested documents in “the most economical means rea- sonably calculated to identify and produce responsive, nonexcluded documents.” The Georgia Supreme Court has held that no fee may be charged when a person seeks only to inspect records that are routinely subject to public inspection, such as deeds, city ordinances and zoning maps.22 An agency also may not charge for time its attorneys spend advising whether records should be disclosed.
Oftentimes, citizens find that agencies take longer than anticipated in process- ing public records requests. Although the Open Records Law does not address informal methods of following up on requests, inquiries to the agency’s custodian of records as to the status of a particular request may be helpful in expediting the process. Informal negotiations with the records custodian also may help reduce the costs associated with the request initially cited by the agency.
The Attorney General’s Office has established an informal mediation program that enables attorneys with the Law Department to answer questions and address con- cerns about a local government’s response to a public records request and its obli- gations under the Open Meetings Act. Upon receiving a complaint, these lawyers will contact the local government involved to attempt to resolve the dispute if they believe that a colorable claim exists that the open records or open meetings laws have been violated. While they do not represent the citizens in such disputes, their goal is to make sure the citizen involved is receiving all the records to which the requester is entitled under the Open Records Law, thereby helping citizens and agencies resolve disputes without resorting to legal action.
Anyone who the court finds “knowingly and willfully” failed or refused to timely provide access to records not subject to exemption is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not in excess of $1,000.00.25 Alternatively, a court may im- pose a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00 against anyone who negligently fails or refuses to timely provide access to such records. The court also may impose a criminal fine or civil penalty not in excess of $2,500.00 for each additional viola- tion committed within a year of the first violation.
Georgia’s Open Meetings Law26 requires that state and local governmental bodies conduct their business so citizens can review and monitor their elected officials and others working on their behalf. The Law requires that government meetings be open to the public. The Law also requires governmental bodies to provide rea- sonable notice of all meetings.
A. What Meetings Are Open?
• Non-profit corporations operating public hospitals.
B. What Meetings Are Open To The Public?
Although some law enforcement meetings and some meetings involving personnel discussions are exempt from the Law, the Law does not generally exempt agency adjudicative sessions. It also does not exempt budget sessions, coroner’s inquests or meetings regarding business or industry relations, federal programs, financial data, gifts, trusts, honorary degrees, licensing examinations, negotiations, collec- tive bargaining of public employees, national or state security (subject to the law enforcement exemption) or student discipline and other student-related matters not specifically related to education. Federal and state laws, however, prohibit dis- closure of the identity of students in certain instances.
C. How Should Government Provide Access?
In addition to mandating open meetings, the Law requires that agencies provide notice to the public in advance of all meetings, even emergency meetings.37 That means agencies must make information available to the general public by, in the case of regular meetings, posting at least one week in advance a notice containing the information in a conspicuous location at the agency’s regular meeting place and on its website if the agency has one. The notice must do more than simply meet the technical requirements of the Law. It must be sufficient to reasonably apprise a concerned party of an upcoming meeting and must not be misleading.
least 24 hours in advance at the regular meeting place and oral notification to the newspaper which serves as the legal organ for the county. In counties where the legal organ is published less than four times a week, notice also must be given to any local media outlets that make a written request to be so notified. Such outlets must be notified at least 24 hours in advance of the called meeting. In those rare circumstances where a meeting must be held upon less than 24 hours’ notice, ei- ther the county’s legal organ or a newspaper having a circulation at least as high as that of the legal organ must be notified, as well as other media that have requested to be notified by the agency.
Prior to all meetings, including emergency meetings, the agency holding such meetings must make an agenda of all matters expected to be considered available upon request and must post the agenda at the meeting site as far in advance as possible within two weeks prior to the meeting.38 Items not on the agenda may be considered at a meeting where it becomes “necessary” to do so and such items were not anticipated in advance and deliberately omitted from the agenda.
Minutes of all public meetings must be kept in writing and made available to the public for inspection no later than immediately following the next regular agency meeting. Such minutes must contain, at a minimum, the names of the members present at the meeting, a description of each motion or other proposal made, the identity of the individuals making and seconding the motion or other proposal and a record of all votes. These minutes are subject to the Open Records Law after approval, unless voluntarily released before approval. A summary of the meeting also must be provided by the agency within two business days.
All actions taken during a meeting closed in violation of the Law are void and can be set aside by a court if challenged within ninety days of discovery.39 Anyone who “knowingly and willfully” conducts or participates in a meeting without comply- ing with every part of the Law is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not in excess of $1,000.00.40 Alternatively, a court may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00 against anyone who negligently conducts or participates in a meeting without complying with the Law. The court also may impose a criminal fine or civil penalty not in excess of $2,500.00 for each additional violation com- mitted within a year of the first violation.
Lastly, the Law does not require that any meetings be closed. Agencies may close meetings only as permitted by a specific exemption provided by law. A meeting may not be closed to the public except by a majority vote of those agency members present. That portion of a meeting prior to closure by majority vote must be open to the public. An agency must state the specific reasons for closure of the meeting in the official minutes, and the person presiding over such meeting must execute a notarized affidavit stating under oath that the closed portion of the meeting was devoted to matters within the exceptions provided by law and must identify the specific relevant exception.44 The new law requires that minutes of these “execu- tive sessions” be kept in writing so that a court can examine them should a legal dispute about the propriety of the closed session arise.45 These minutes are not available to the public for inspection.
both to help assure honest and forthright decisions by governmental officials, and to continue the perception that governmental decisions are made in the brightness of Georgia’s sunshine.
(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that the strong public policy of this state is in favor of open government; that open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society; and that public access to public records should be encouraged to foster confidence in government and so that the public can evaluate the expenditure of public funds and the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions. The General Assembly further finds and declares that there is a strong presumption that public records should be made avail- able for public inspection without delay. This article shall be broadly construed to allow the inspection of governmental records. The exceptions set forth in this article, together with any other exception located elsewhere in the Code, shall be interpreted narrowly to exclude only those portions of records addressed by such exception.
(1) “Agency” shall have the same meaning as in Code Section 50-14-1 and shall addi- tionally include any association, corporation, or other similar organization that has a membership or ownership body composed primarily of counties, municipal corpo- rations, or school districts of this state, their officers, or any combination thereof and derives more than 33 1/3 percent of its general operating budget from payments from such political subdivisions.
(2) “Public record” means all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photo- graphs, computer based or generated information, data, data fields, or similar ma- terial prepared and maintained or received by an agency or by a private person or entity in the performance of a service or function for or on behalf of an agency or when such documents have been transferred to a private person or entity by an agency for storage or future governmental use.
(a) All public records shall be open for personal inspection and copying, except those which by order of a court of this state or by law are specifically exempted from disclosure. Records shall be maintained by agencies to the extent and in the manner required by Article 5 of this chapter.
Agencies shall produce for inspection all records responsive to a request within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days of receipt of a request; provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall require agencies to produce records in response to a request if such records did not exist at the time of the request. In those instances where some, but not all, records are available within three business days, an agency shall make available within that period those records that can be located and pro- duced. In any instance where records are unavailable within three business days of receipt of the request, and responsive records exist, the agency shall, within such time period, provide the requester with a description of such records and a timeline for when the records will be available for inspection or copying and provide the responsive records or access thereto as soon as practicable.
An agency may impose a reasonable charge for the search, retrieval, redaction, and production or copying costs for the production of records pursuant to this article. An agency shall utilize the most economical means reasonably calculated to iden- tify and produce responsive, nonexcluded documents. Where fees for certified cop- ies or other copies or records are specifically authorized or otherwise prescribed by law, such specific fee shall apply when certified copies or other records to which a specific fee may apply are sought. In all other instances, the charge for the search, retrieval, or redaction of records 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; provided, however, that no charge shall be made for the first quarter hour.
(B) A request made pursuant to this article may be made to the custodian of a public record orally or in writing. An agency may, but shall not be obligated to, require that all written requests be made upon the responder’s choice of one of the following: the agency’s director, chairperson, or chief execu- tive officer, however denominated; the senior official at any satellite office of an agency; a clerk specifically designated by an agency as the custodian of agency records; or a duly designated open records officer of an agency; pro- vided, however, that the absence or unavailability of the designated agency officer or employee shall not be permitted to delay the agency’s response. At the time of inspection, any person may make photographic copies or oth- er electronic reproductions of the records using suitable portable devices brought to the place of inspection. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an agency may, in its discretion, provide copies of a record in lieu of providing access to the record when portions of the record contain confidential information that must be redacted.
(2) Any agency that designates one or more open records officers upon whom requests for inspection or copying of records may be delivered shall make such designation in writing and shall immediately provide notice to any person upon request, orally or in writing, of those open records officers. If the agency has elected to designate an open records officer, the agency shall so notify the legal organ of the county in which the agency’s principal offices reside and, if the agency has a website, shall also prominently display such designation on the agency’s website. In the event an agency requires that requests be made upon the individuals identified in subpara- graph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection, the three-day period for response to a written request shall not begin to run until the request is made in writing upon such individuals. An agency shall permit receipt of written requests by e-mail or fac- simile transmission in addition to any other methods of transmission approved by the agency, provided such agency uses e-mail or facsimile in the normal course of its business.
(3) The enforcement provisions of Code Sections 50-18-73 and 50-18-74 shall be avail- able only to enforce compliance and punish noncompliance when a written request is made consistent with this subsection and shall not be available when such re- quest is made orally.
(2) In addition to a charge for the search, retrieval, or redaction of records, an agency may charge a fee for the copying of records or data, not to exceed 10¢ per page for letter or legal size documents or, in the case of other documents, the actual cost of producing the copy. In the case of electronic records, the agency may charge the actual cost of the media on which the records or data are produced.
charges have been lawfully estimated and agreed to pursuant to this article, and the agency has incurred the agreed-upon costs to make the records available, regard- less of whether the requester inspects or accepts copies of the records, the agency shall be authorized to collect such charges in any manner authorized by law for the collection of taxes, fees, or assessments by such agency.
(d) In any instance in which an agency is required to or has decided to withhold all or part of a requested record, the agency shall notify the requester of the specific legal authority ex- empting the requested record or records from disclosure by Code section, subsection, and paragraph within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days or in the event the search and retrieval of records is delayed pursuant to this subsection or pursu- ant to subparagraph (b)(1)(A) of this Code section, then no later than three business days after the records have been retrieved. In any instance in which an agency will seek costs in excess of $25.00 for responding to a request, the agency shall notify the requester within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days and inform the requester of the estimate of the costs, and the agency may defer search and retrieval of the records until the requester agrees to pay the estimated costs unless the requester has stated in his or her request a willingness to pay an amount that exceeds the search and retrieval costs. In any instance in which the estimated costs for production of the records exceeds $500.00, an agency may insist on prepayment of the costs prior to beginning search, retrieval, review, or production of the records. Whenever any person who has requested to inspect or copy a public record has not paid the cost for search, retrieval, redaction, or copying of such records when such charges have been lawfully incurred, an agency may require prepayment for com- pliance with all future requests for production of records from that person until the costs for the prior production of records have been paid or the dispute regarding payment resolved.
(e) Requests by civil litigants for records that are sought as part of or for use in any ongoing civil or administrative litigation against an agency shall be made in writing and copied to counsel of record for that agency contemporaneously with their submission to that agency. The agency shall provide, at no cost, duplicate sets of all records produced in response to the request to counsel of record for that agency unless the counsel of record for that agency elects not to receive the records.
(f) As provided in this subsection, an agency’s use of electronic record-keeping systems must not erode the public’s right of access to records under this article. Agencies shall produce electronic copies of or, if the requester prefers, printouts of electronic records or data from data base fields that the agency maintains using the computer programs that the agency has in its possession. An agency shall not refuse to produce such electronic records, data, or data fields on the grounds that exporting data or redaction of exempted information will require inputting range, search, filter, report parameters, or similar commands or instruc- tions into an agency’s computer system so long as such commands or instructions can be executed using existing computer programs that the agency uses in the ordinary course of business to access, support, or otherwise manage the records or data. A requester may request that electronic records, data, or data fields be produced in the format in which such data or electronic records are kept by the agency, or in a standard export format such as a flat file electronic American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format, if the agency’s existing computer programs support such an export format. In such instance, the data or electronic records shall be downloaded in such format onto suitable electronic media by the agency.
(g) Requests to inspect or copy electronic messages, whether in the form of e-mail, text mes- sage, or other format, should contain information about the messages that is reasonably calculated to allow the recipient of the request to locate the messages sought, including, if known, the name, title, or office of the specific person or persons whose electronic mes- sages are sought and, to the extent possible, the specific data bases to be searched for such messages.
(h) In lieu of providing separate printouts or copies of records or data, an agency may provide access to records through a website accessible by the public. However, if an agency receives a request for data fields, an agency shall not refuse to provide the responsive data on the grounds that the data is available in whole or in its constituent parts through a website if the requester seeks the data in the electronic format in which it is kept. Additionally, if an agency contracts with a private vendor to collect or maintain public records, the agency shall ensure that the arrangement does not limit public access to those records and that the vendor does not impede public record access and method of delivery as established by the agency or as otherwise provided for in this Code section.
(i) Any computerized index of county real estate deed records shall be printed for purposes of public inspection no less than every 30 days, and any correction made on such index shall be made a part of the printout and shall reflect the time and date that such index was cor- rected.
(j) No public officer or agency shall be required to prepare new reports, summaries, or compi- lations not in existence at the time of the request.
showing amounts owed and amounts paid shall be available. Items exempt- ed by this subparagraph shall be redacted prior to disclosure of any record requested pursuant to this article; provided, however, that such information shall not be redacted from such records if the person or entity requesting such records requests such information in a writing signed under oath by such person or a person legally authorized to represent such entity which states that such person or entity is gathering information as a representative of a news media organization for use in connection with news gathering and reporting; and provided, further, that such access shall be limited to social security numbers and day and month of birth; and provided, further, that the news media organization exception in this subparagraph shall not apply to paragraph (21) of this subsection.
(x) The disclosure of the date of birth within criminal records.
(C) Records and information disseminated pursuant to this paragraph may be used only by the authorized recipient and only for the authorized purpose. Any person who obtains records or information pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph and knowingly and willfully discloses, distributes, or sells such records or information to an unauthorized recipient or for an unauthorized purpose shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as provided in Code Section 17-10-4. Any person injured thereby shall have a cause of action for invasion of privacy.
(D) In the event that the custodian of public records protected by this paragraph has good faith reason to believe that a pending request for such records has been made fraudulently, under false pretenses, or by means of false swear- ing, such custodian shall apply to the superior court of the county in which such records are maintained for a protective order limiting or prohibiting ac- cess to such records.
(v) Records of any government sponsored programs concerning training relative to governmental security measures which would identify per- sons being trained or instructors or would reveal information described in divisions (i) through (iv) of this subparagraph.
(B) In the event of litigation challenging nondisclosure pursuant to this para- graph by an agency of a document covered by this paragraph, the court may review the documents in question in camera and may condition, in writing, any disclosure upon such measures as the court may find to be necessary to protect against endangerment of life, safety, or public property.
(34) Any trade secrets obtained from a person or business entity that are required by law, regulation, bid, or request for proposal to be submitted to an agency.
(48) Records that are expressly exempt from public inspection pursuant to Code Section 47-20-87.
(b) This Code section shall be interpreted narrowly so as to exclude from disclosure only that portion of a public record to which an exclusion is directly applicable. It shall be the duty of the agency having custody of a record to provide all other portions of a record for public inspection or copying.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an exhibit tendered to the court as evidence in a criminal or civil trial shall not be open to public inspection without approval of the judge assigned to the case.
(3) The provisions of this article regarding fees for production of a record, including, but not limited to, subsections (c) and (d) of Code Section 50-18-71, shall apply to exhibits produced according to this subsection.
(d) Any physical evidence that is used as an exhibit in a criminal or civil trial to show or sup- port an alleged violation of Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 shall not be open to public inspection except by court order. If the judge approves inspection of such physical evidence, the judge shall designate, in writing, the facility owned or operated by an agency of the state or local government where such physical evidence may be inspected. If the judge permits inspection, such property or material shall not be photographed, copied, or reproduced by any means. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years, a fine of not more than $100,000.00, or both.
(a) The superior courts of this state shall have jurisdiction in law and in equity to entertain actions against persons or agencies having custody of records open to the public under this article to enforce compliance with the provisions of this article. Such actions may be brought by any person, firm, corporation, or other entity. In addition, the Attorney General shall have authority to bring such actions in his or her discretion as may be appropriate to enforce compliance with this article and to seek either civil or criminal penalties or both.
(b) In any action brought to enforce the provisions of this chapter in which the court deter- mines that either party acted without substantial justification either in not complying with this chapter or in instituting the litigation, the court shall, unless it finds that special cir- cumstances exist, assess in favor of the complaining party reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred. Whether the position of the complaining party was substantially justified shall be determined on the basis of the record as a whole which is made in the proceeding for which fees and other expenses are sought.
(c) Any agency or person who provides access to information in good faith reliance on the requirements of this chapter shall not be liable in any action on account of such decision.
penalty or criminal fine not to exceed $2,500.00 per violation may be imposed for each ad- ditional violation that the violator commits within a 12 month period from the date the first penalty or fine was imposed. It shall be a defense to any criminal action under this Code section that a person has acted in good faith in his or her actions. In addition, persons or entities that destroy records for the purpose of preventing their disclosure under this article may be subject to prosecution under Code Section 45-11-1.
(b) A prosecution under this Code section may only be commenced by issuance of a citation in the same manner as an arrest warrant for a peace officer pursuant to Code Section 17-4-40; such citation shall be personally served upon the accused. The defendant shall not be ar- rested prior to the time of trial, except that a defendant who fails to appear for arraignment or trial may thereafter be arrested pursuant to a bench warrant and required to post a bond for his or her future appearance.
Communications between the Office of Legislative Counsel and the following persons shall be privileged and confidential: members of the General Assembly, the Lieutenant Governor, and per- sons acting on behalf of such public officers; and such communications, and records and work product relating to such communications, shall not be subject to inspection or disclosure under this article or any other law or under judicial process; provided, however, that this privilege shall not apply where it is waived by the affected public officer or officers. The privilege established un- der this Code section is in addition to any other constitutional, statutory, or common law privilege.
No form, document, or other written matter which is required by law or rule or regulation to be filed as a vital record under the provisions of Chapter 10 of Title 31, which contains information which is exempt from disclosure under Code Section 31-10-25, and which is temporarily kept or maintained in any file or with any other documents in the office of the judge or clerk of any court prior to filing with the Department of Public Health shall be open to inspection by the general public, even though the other papers or documents in such file may be open to inspection.
The procedures and fees provided for in this article shall not apply to public records, including records that are exempt from disclosure pursuant to Code Section 50-18-72, which are requested in writing by a state or federal grand jury, taxing authority, law enforcement agency, or prosecuting attorney in conjunction with an ongoing administrative, criminal, or tax investigation. The lawful custodian shall provide copies of such records to the requesting agency unless such records are privileged or disclosure to such agencies is specifically restricted by law.
(E) Any nonprofit organization to which there is a direct allocation of tax funds made by the governing body of any agency as defined in this paragraph which constitutes more than 33 1/3 percent of the funds from all sources of such or- ganization; provided, however, that this subparagraph shall not include hospi- tals, nursing homes, dispensers of pharmaceutical products, or any other type organization, person, or firm furnishing medical or health services to a citizen for which they receive reimbursement from the state whether directly or indi- rectly; nor shall this term include a subagency or affiliate of such a nonprofit organization from or through which the allocation of tax funds is made.
(2) “Executive session” means a portion of a meeting lawfully closed to the public.
(ii) The gathering of a quorum of any committee of the members of the governing body of an agency or a quorum of any committee created by the governing body, at which any official business, policy, or public matter of the committee is formulated, presented, discussed, or voted upon.
(v) The gathering of a quorum of the members of a governing body of an agency at social, ceremonial, civic, or religious events so long as no official business, policy, or public matter is formulated, presented, dis- cussed, or voted upon by the quorum.
This subparagraph’s exclusions from the definition of the term meeting shall not ap- ply if it is shown that the primary purpose of the gathering or gatherings is to evade or avoid the requirements for conducting a meeting while discussing or conducting official business.
Except as otherwise provided by law, all meetings shall be open to the public. All votes at any meeting shall be taken in public after due notice of the meeting and compliance with the posting and agenda requirements of this chapter.
(2) Any resolution, rule, regulation, ordinance, or other official action of an agency ad- opted, taken, or made at a meeting which is not open to the public as required by this chapter shall not be binding. Any action contesting a resolution, rule, regula- tion, ordinance, or other formal action of an agency based on an alleged violation of this provision shall be commenced within 90 days of the date such contested ac- tion was taken or, if the meeting was held in a manner not permitted by law, within 90 days from the date the party alleging the violation knew or should have known about the alleged violation so long as such date is not more than six months after the date the contested action was taken.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, any action un- der this chapter contesting a zoning decision of a local governing authority shall be commenced within the time allowed by law for appeal of such zoning decision.
(c) The public at all times shall be afforded access to meetings declared open to the public pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section. Visual and sound recording during open meetings shall be permitted.
Prior to any meeting, the agency or committee holding such meeting shall make available an agenda of all matters expected to come before the agency or commit- tee at such meeting. The agenda shall be available upon request and shall be posted at the meeting site, as far in advance of the meeting as reasonably possible, but shall not be required to be available more than two weeks prior to the meeting and shall be posted, at a minimum, at some time during the two-week period immediately prior to the meeting. Failure to include on the agenda an item which becomes nec- essary to address during the course of a meeting shall not preclude considering and acting upon such item.
schedule, but nothing in this subsection shall preclude an agency from canceling or postponing any regularly scheduled meeting.
(2) For any meeting, other than a regularly scheduled meeting of the agency for which notice has already been provided pursuant to this chapter, written or oral notice shall be given at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting to the legal or- gan in which notices of sheriff’s sales are published in the county where regular meetings are held or at the option of the agency to a newspaper having a gen- eral circulation in such county at least equal to that of the legal organ; provided, however, that, in counties where the legal organ is published less often than four times weekly, sufficient notice shall be the posting of a written notice for at least 24 hours at the place of regular meetings and, upon written request from any local broadcast or print media outlet whose place of business and physical facilities are located in the county, notice by telephone, facsimile, or e-mail to that requesting media outlet at least 24 hours in advance of the called meeting. Whenever notice is given to a legal organ or other newspaper, that publication shall immediately or as soon as practicable make the information available upon inquiry to any member of the public. Upon written request from any local broad- cast or print media outlet, a copy of the meeting’s agenda shall be provided by facsimile, e-mail, or mail through a self-addressed, stamped envelope provided by the requestor.
(3) When special circumstances occur and are so declared by an agency, that agency may hold a meeting with less than 24 hours’ notice upon giving such notice of the meeting and subjects expected to be considered at the meeting as is reasonable under the circumstances, including notice to the county legal organ or a newspa- per having a general circulation in the county at least equal to that of the legal or- gan, in which event the reason for holding the meeting within 24 hours and the nature of the notice shall be recorded in the minutes. Such reasonable notice shall also include, upon written request within the previous calendar year from any local broadcast or print media outlet whose place of business and physical facilities are located in the county, notice by telephone, facsimile, or e-mail to that requesting media outlet.
A summary of the subjects acted on and those members present at a meet- ing of any agency shall be written and made available to the public for in- spection within two business days of the adjournment of a meeting.
seconding the motion or other proposal, and a record of all votes. The name of each person voting for or against a proposal shall be recorded. It shall be presumed that the action taken was approved by each person in attendance unless the minutes reflect the name of the persons voting against the pro- posal or abstaining.
(C) Minutes of executive sessions shall also be recorded but shall not be open to the public. Such minutes shall specify each issue discussed in executive session by the agency or committee. In the case of executive sessions where matters subject to the attorney-client privilege are discussed, the fact that an attorney-client discussion occurred and its subject shall be identified, but the substance of the discussion need not be recorded and shall not be identi- fied in the minutes. Such minutes shall be kept and preserved for in camera inspection by an appropriate court should a dispute arise as to the propriety of any executive session.
(f) An agency with state-wide jurisdiction or committee of such an agency shall be authorized to conduct meetings by teleconference, provided that any such meeting is conducted in compliance with this chapter.
(g) Under circumstances necessitated by emergency conditions involving public safety or the preservation of property or public services, agencies or committees thereof not otherwise permitted by subsection (f) of this Code section to conduct meetings by tele- conference may meet by means of teleconference so long as the notice required by this chapter is provided and means are afforded for the public to have simultaneous access to the teleconference meeting. On any other occasion of the meeting of an agency or com- mittee thereof, and so long as a quorum is present in person, a member may participate by teleconference if necessary due to reasons of health or absence from the jurisdiction so long as the other requirements of this chapter are met. Absent emergency conditions or the written opinion of a physician or other health professional that reasons of health prevent a member’s physical presence, no member shall participate by teleconference pursuant to this subsection more than twice in one calendar year.
(2) Those tax matters which are otherwise made confidential by state law.
(8) E-mail communications among members of an agency; provided, however, that such communications shall be subject to disclosure pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 18 of this title.
(E) Enter into an option to purchase, dispose of, or lease real estate subject to approval in subsequent public vote.
(4) Portions of meetings during which that portion of a record made exempt from pub- lic inspection or disclosure pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 18 of this title is to be considered by an agency and there are no reasonable means by which the agency can consider the record without disclosing the exempt portions if the meeting were not closed.
(a) When any meeting of an agency is closed to the public pursuant to any provision of this chapter, the specific reasons for such closure shall be entered upon the official minutes, the meeting shall not be closed to the public except by a majority vote of a quorum present for the meeting, the minutes shall reflect the names of the members present and the names of those voting for closure, and that part of the minutes shall be made available to the public as any other minutes. Where a meeting of an agency is devoted in part to matters within the exceptions provided by law, any portion of the meeting not subject to any such exception, privilege, or confidentiality shall be open to the public, and the minutes of such portions not subject to any such exception shall be taken, recorded, and open to public inspection as provided in subsection (e) of Code Section 50-14-1.
When any meeting of an agency is closed to the public pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section, the person presiding over such meeting or, if the agency’s policy so provides, each member of the governing body of the agency attending such meeting, shall execute and file with the official minutes of the meeting a notarized affidavit stating under oath that the subject matter of the meeting or the closed portion thereof was devoted to matters within the exceptions provided by law and identifying the specific relevant exception.
immediately rule the discussion out of order and all present shall cease the ques- tioned conversation. If one or more persons continue or attempt to continue the discussion after being ruled out of order, the presiding officer shall immediately ad- journ the executive session.
(a) The superior courts of this state shall have jurisdiction to enforce compliance with the pro- visions of this chapter, including the power to grant injunctions or other equitable relief. In addition to any action that may be brought by any person, firm, corporation, or other entity, the Attorney General shall have authority to bring enforcement actions, either civil or criminal, in his or her discretion as may be appropriate to enforce compliance with this chapter.
(b) In any action brought to enforce the provisions of this chapter in which the court deter- mines that an agency acted without substantial justification in not complying with this chapter, the court shall, unless it finds that special circumstances exist, assess in favor of the complaining party reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably in- curred. Whether the position of the complaining party was substantially justified shall be determined on the basis of the record as a whole which is made in the proceeding for which fees and other expenses are sought.
(c) Any agency or person who provides access to information in good faith reliance on the requirements of this chapter shall not be liable in any action on account of having provided access to such information.
Any person knowingly and willfully conducting or participating in a meeting in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00. Alternatively, a civil penalty may be imposed by the court in any civil action brought pursuant to this chapter against any person who negligently violates the terms of this chapter in an amount not to exceed $1,000.00 for the first violation. A civil penalty or criminal fine not to exceed $2,500.00 per violation may be imposed for each additional violation that the viola- tor commits within a 12 month period from the date that the first penalty or fine was imposed. It shall be a defense to any criminal action under this Code section that a person has acted in good faith in his or her actions.
Note: Delivery should be by hand delivery or by certified mail–return receipt requested. If there is an urgency to the request, hand delivery — or, if hand delivery is not feasible, delivery via fax or e-mail followed by a confirmatory phone call — is the most effective form of delivery. If the matter is not time-sensitive, and you opt to mail the request — particularly if the relevant agency is a state one or one that serves a large metropolitan municipality such as the City of Atlanta or Gwinnett County, for example — you should clearly write “Attention: Open Records Act office” or “Attention: Public records custodian” on the front of the envelope to ensure prompt delivery to the appropriate agency employee.
Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Law (O.C.G.A § 50-18-70 et seq.) (the “Law”), you are hereby requested to make available for review and copying all files, records and other docu- ments in your possessions that refer, reflect or relate to ________________. This request includes, but is not limited to, all documents, notes, correspondence and memoranda evidencing __________________, and all communication and correspondence in whatever tangible medium between and among __________________ and __________________.
If this request is denied in whole or in part, we ask that you cite in writing the specific statutory exemption upon which you have relied, as required by law. We also ask that you release all sepa- rate portions of otherwise exempt material. Please waive any costs associated with this request, or first inform us about such costs as required by Georgia law.
As you know, the Law requires a response by you within three business days of your receipt of this letter and provides sanctions for non-compliance. I look forward to hearing from you.
If you would like more information, the following is a list of resources on open records and open meeting laws at the federal level and within Georgia.
“Georgia Public Schools and the Open Records Act,” 1st edition, 2007. Available from the Georgia First Amendment Foundation (404) 525-3646, www.gfaf.org.
“Georgia Law Enforcement and the Open Records Act,” 2nd edition, 2005. Avail- able from the Georgia First Amendment Foundation (404) 525-3646, www.gfaf. org.
“Covering Campus Crime,” 4th edition, 2009. Available from the Student Press Law Center, (703) 807-1904, www.splc.org.
“Electronic Access to Court Records,” 2007. Available from the Reporters Com- mittee for Freedom of the Press (703) 807-2100, www.rcfp.org.
“Open Government Guide,” 2011. Available from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (703) 807-2100, www.rcfp.org.
Georgia’s self-proclaimed “government transparency advocate, ” Attorney General Sam Olens, is anything but. I assure you, Olens has legally sealed hundreds of documents confirming RICO (racketeering) violations by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (his Defendants), while lying to the public about his mandates for government transparency. Stay tuned, as 2015 will expose Attorney General Sam Olens’ true agenda – and it is not to be the voice of Georgians.

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