On June 30th, the Georgia Supreme Court rendered a 4-3 decision regarding law enforcement records and the time for responding to records requests. Specifically, the Court agreed that investigatory records are not subject to disclosure under the Georgia Open Records Act until the case is closed. That was the good news. More problematic was the second issue addressed. The Court ruled that the three day time period for responding to open records requests begins upon delivery of the request to the agency (the county, city or other covered agency) rather than when the request is delivered to the custodian of the records (normally, the person in charge of or in possession of the requested records).
The case arose out of a request made by an Athens newspaper seeking police records from Athens-Clarke County related to an unsolved 1992 rape and murder of a university student. When Athens-Clarke refused citing the “pending investigation exception” exception in the open records law, the newspaper sued to force the release of the records. The newspaper also asked for attorneys fees claiming that Athens-Clarke failed to respond within the three days after the request was received in the mail room of the county even though the custodian of the records did respond within three days of receiving the request as required.
Police Records
As to the police records, the Court agreed with Athens-Clarke’s interpretation that the case was still pending even though the crime occurred in 1992. In doing so the Court acknowledged that, in the absence of any statutory standard, the investigation remained pending so long as some level of investigation continued. In the Athens-Clarke case, the police department has continued to monitor federal law enforcement databases including DNA profiles in hopes of developing a lead. The Court agreed with the county that prematurely releasing investigation files could compromise the eventual prosecution of the perpetrator.
3-Day Response Time
Even though the open records statute says that the individual custodian in charge of requested records has three days to respond to a request, The Supreme Court construed the act to require a response within three days of an agency’s receipt of an open records request. In other words, when a request is received at the county and time-stamped by a clerk or in a mail room, the clock starts ticking.
Implications
While confirming the investigation files exemption was positive, the ruling means that counties and all other public agencies must pay careful attention to the receipt of a request for records and be prepared to respond. Note that violation of the open records act may subject the government to a claim for attorneys fees from the requestor. County officials and their county attorneys should immediately review procedures in place for receiving and dating incoming mail and establish policies for a quick response to every records request. Full opinion available at the link below.
