CopyCited 488 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 18, 2013 | 751 S.E.2d 337, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3507
...Prior to the amendment, the Act defined those who might properly request an inspection of public records solely by reference to their membership in the People.18 See, e.g., OCGA §§
50-18-70 (b) (2012) (public records “shall be open for personal inspection by any citizen of this state”);
50-18-71 (a) (2012) (“In all cases where an interested member of the public has a right to inspect or take extracts or make copies from any public records, instruments, or documents ....”)....
...Although the Act contemplated requests by individual persons to inspect public records, it did not require that a person requesting inspection have, assert, or prove any special or personal interest in the requested records or the information contained therein. See OCGA §
50-18-71 *182(b) (2012)....
...public records should be made available for public inspection without delay. . . .
OCGA §
50-18-70 (a) (2013) (emphasis supplied). We find reference to “the public’s right of access” and “public access” throughout the Act. See, e.g., OCGA §
50-18-71 (f), (h) (2013) (emphasis supplied).
To the contrary, the Act provided that an agency could respond to a request, for instance, for electronic records by making them available on the internet, OCGA §
50-18-70 (g) (2012), and consistent with that approach, it now provides that an agency may comply with any request by “providing] access to records through a website accessible by the public.” OCGA §
50-18-71 (h) (2013).
If the Act provided for an award of attorney fees to a prevailing party in such an action, it might be said that the plaintiff would have a private right at least as to the award of such fees....
CopyCited 19 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Apr 17, 2017 | 799 S.E.2d 225
...Accordingly, we affirm.
*885I.
On September 10, 2015, Blalock sent an open records request via certified mail to Bobby Cartwright, the Mayor of the City of Lovejoy, who signed the return receipt on September 15, 2015. On October 9, 2015, well after the City’s three-day deadline for responding to the request, see OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (A),1 Blalock filed a petition for mandamus against Mayor Cartwright in his official capacity, seeking production of the requested documents and recovery of his attorney fees....
...t to exceed three business days of receipt of a request” or, where the records themselves are not immediately available, to provide, within that three-business-day time period, a description of the records and a timeline for their production. OCGA §
50-18-71 (b)(1)(A).
And even if Blalock could seek to recover civil penalties, he could do so only by suing Cartwright in his individual, personal capacity....
CopyCited 15 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jul 16, 1992 | 262 Ga. 369, 92 Fulton County D. Rep. 1416
...Athens Observer v. Anderson,
245 Ga. 63 (263 SE2d 128) (1980). There is no dispute that the records sought by McFrugal are public records as defined by the Act. [2] None of the Act's exceptions to the disclosure requirement apply. See OCGA §
50-18-72. OCGA §
50-18-71 makes provisions for the custodian of public records to charge a fee to members of the public who seek access to public records. By its nature, any fee imposed pursuant to OCGA §
50-18-71 constitutes a burden on the public's right to access to public records....
...As we construe the statute, the imposition of a fee is allowed only when the citizen seeking access requests copies of documents or requests action by the custodian that involves an unusual administrative cost or burden. Thus, a fee may not be imposed under OCGA §
50-18-71 when a citizen seeks only to inspect records that are routinely subject to public inspection, such as deeds, city ordinances or zoning maps....
CopyCited 9 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 18, 2018
...CFA and the Board filed petitions for certiorari, which this Court granted.
2. Under our State's Open Records Act, "[a]ll 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." OCGA §
50-18-71 (a)....
...disclose the records. Our analysis will proceed, as the trial court's did, on the assumption that the requested records fit within one or both of these OCGA §
50-18-72 (a) exemptions. CCRF contends that the phrase "exempted from disclosure" in OCGA §
50-18-71 (a) means "prohibited from disclosure," and that "disclosure shall not be required " as used in OCGA §
50-18-72 (a) means "disclosure shall be prohibited ." Reading the statutory text as CCRF suggests would be contrary, however, to the English language....
...And a daughter surprising her father with a birthday visit after he had told her that a visit was not required would be rather confused if she found the door barred by her angry father shouting that she should have understood that her visit was prohibited . Read naturally and reasonably, OCGA §§
50-18-71 (a) and
50-18-72 (a) do not prohibit disclosure of records simply because those records are not required to be disclosed by a specific exemption from the ORA's general disclosure duty.
CCRF next maintains that we must adopt its interpret...
...his Code section."), (34) ("[T]he agency shall withhold [certain trade secret] records"). If saying that records are not required to be disclosed was meant to prohibit their disclosure, these express prohibitions would be surplusage.5
Finally, OCGA §
50-18-71 (d) says:
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 exempting the requested record or records fro...
...When Bowers was decided in 1995, OCGA §
50-18-72 expressly said that it did not repeal the laws prohibiting disclosure of records covered by attorney-client privilege, attorney work product, and tax matters. See id. (e) (1) - (3). And at that time, OCGA §
50-18-71.1 (a) prohibited the disclosure of "an exhibit tendered to the court as evidence in a criminal or civil trial ......
CopyCited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 18, 2018
...nted.
2. Under our State’s Open Records Act, “[a]ll 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.” OCGA
§
50-18-71 (a)....
...cords. Our analysis will proceed,
as the trial court’s did, on the assumption that the requested records fit within
one or both of these OCGA §
50-18-72 (a) exemptions.
CCRF contends that the phrase “exempted from disclosure” in OCGA §
50-18-71 (a) means “prohibited from disclosure,” and that “disclosure shall not
3
Paragraphs (35) and (36) of OCGA §
50-18-72 (a) say in full:
(35) Data, records, or information of a proprietary nature produ...
...And a daughter surprising her father with a birthday visit after
he had told her that a visit was not required would be rather confused if she
found the door barred by her angry father shouting that she should have
understood that her visit was prohibited. Read naturally and reasonably, OCGA
§§
50-18-71 (a) and
50-18-72 (a) do not prohibit disclosure of records simply
because those records are not required to be disclosed by a specific exemption
from the ORA’s general disclosure duty.
CCRF next maintains that we must adopt its...
...of this Code section.”), (34) (“[T]he agency shall withhold [certain trade secret]
records.”). If saying that records are not required to be disclosed was meant to
prohibit their disclosure, these express prohibitions would be surplusage.5
Finally, OCGA §
50-18-71 (d) says:
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 exempting...
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Aug 13, 2024
...For the reasons that follow, we
conclude that the Open Records Act applies to such records, and
while we agree with the Court of Appeals that an agency may
designate an open records officer upon whom all written open
records requests to the agency must be made, see OCGA §
50-18-71
(b) (1) (B),1 we conclude that, even when such an officer has been
designated by an agency, a request for public records related to a
private contractor’s services to a public agency can be served upon
non-agency custodians of the r...
...ords — including
the private contractor if he or she is the custodian of the records
sought — and the Court of Appeals erred in concluding otherwise.
See Milliron v. Antonakakis,
369 Ga. App. 121, 125 (1) (891 SE2d
448) (2023). See also OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) (“A request made
pursuant to this article may be made to the custodian of a public
record orally or in writing.”)....
...At the center of this action is an open records request Ryan
Milliron sent to Respondent Manos Antonakakis, a professor
—————————————————————
1 The pertinent portion of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) provides that “[a]n
agency may, but shall not be obligated to, require that all written requests be
made upon ....
...designated Open Records officer,” which was “neither Antonakakis
nor his personal attorney.” Id. at 124-125 (1) (citing OCGA § 50-18-
71 (b) (1) (B)). The Court of Appeals determined that, because,
8
“under the plain terms of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B), Milliron’s
request for documents sent directly to Antonakakis was not properly
submitted, [ ] the trial court correctly determined that the faulty
request [was] not a viable means to support Milliron’s action for an
injunction” and “properly dismissed his case.”6 Id. (citing OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (3) (“The enforcement provisions of [OCGA §§]
50-18-73
and
50-18-74 shall be available only to enforce compliance and
punish noncompliance when a written request is made consistent
with this subsection and shall not be availab...
...shall be broadly construed to allow the inspection of governmental
records.” Id.
Within this framework, the General Assembly established
that, with a few exceptions, “[a]ll public records shall be open for
personal inspection and copying,” OCGA §
50-18-71 (a), and will
include
all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes,
photographs, computer based or generated information,
data, data fields, or similar material prepared and
maintained or received by an agency...
...15
for public records within the agency’s custody, an open records
request can still be made to a custodian of public records outside the
agency, like here to a private contractor working for an agency. See
OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B)....
...7 Milliron also served an open records request on Georgia Tech’s
designated open records officer for records in Georgia Tech’s custody.
16
Georgia Tech — has a “duly designated open records officer,” OCGA
§
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B), Milliron’s open records request could have been
served only upon that officer.
The trial court agreed with Antonakakis and concluded that,
under OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (A), only agencies are obligated to
produce public records in response to open records requests — a
conclusion the Court of Appeals did not reject....
...r to receive requests
for public records, such requests can only be made upon that officer
— not any other custodian — to be proper and “viable,” and the
Court of Appeals affirmed that determination on appeal. Id. at 125
(1) (citing OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B)). The lower courts erred in
reaching these conclusions because nothing in the plain language of
OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) or any other provision of the Open
Records Act dictates that only agencies — whether through a
designated officer or otherwise — can receive requests for public
17
records and/or are obligated to produce public records or otherwise
make such records available for review.
The Open Records Act provides that “[a]ll public records shall
be open for personal inspection and copying,” OCGA §
50-18-71 (a),
and to that end, the Act clearly provides that “[a] request made
pursuant to this article may be made to the custodian of a public
record orally or in writing.” OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) (emphasis
supplied)....
...(2012).
So, generally speaking, a “custodian” is someone who has “custody”
of a record — i.e., care and control over it. See Black’s Law
Dictionary (9th ed. 2009). In view of these definitions, the term
“custodian” found in OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) is expansive enough
to include anyone with the requisite care and control of public
records....
...And, as we just held, the Act contemplates that a “private
person or entity” working on the agency’s behalf can prepare,
maintain, or receive “public records,” OCGA §
50-18-70 (b) (2), and
under such circumstances, that person would become the
“custodian” of those records. OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B)....
...73 (a) (emphasis
supplied).
Accordingly, the language of the Act contemplates and permits
that a request to inspect and copy public records can be made to
someone outside of an agency. This conclusion is bolstered by the
fact that, in OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B), the General Assembly used
the term “custodian,” as opposed to “agency,” in specifying the party
upon whom an open records request can be made....
...could be a “custodian” to
whom open record requests can be made under the Act. Id.
While Antonakakis argues that the Open Records Act places
the obligation to produce public records on agencies alone — relying
on the language of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (A), which provides that
20
“[a]gencies 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” — that argument is without
merit....
...uch records. Again,
private persons or entities may maintain records of their work on an
agency’s behalf, see OCGA §
50-18-70 (b) (2), and “all” public records,
including those records, “shall be open” for inspection and copying.
OCGA §
50-18-71 (a). If such persons or entities are “custodians,”
then under the plain language of the Act, a request may be made to
them. OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B).
The only express limitation the Act provides in this context is
that, where the agency has designated an official or an open records
officer to receive “all written requests” on the agency’s behalf, a
written request to that agency must be submitted to the designated
records officer or official. OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) (providing that
21
“[a]n agency may, but shall not be obligated to, require that all
written requests be made upon ....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 30, 2014 | 761 S.E.2d 35
...Such
meeting, the letter stated, was to be recorded, pursuant to OCGA §
48-5-311
(h).2 Hicks declined this request.
Thereafter, Hansen filed his complaint, styled as a “Petition for Mandamus
and/or For an Order and Judgment under OCGA §
50-18-71 et seq.3” In the
petition, Hansen sought an order directing the Board (1) “to directly, fully, and
2
This provision authorizes taxpayers to record, at their own expense, “any
interview with any officer or employee of the taxing authority relating to the
valuation of the taxpayer’s property.”
3
OCGA §
50-18-71 et seq....
...The Open Records Act does not apply to information sought under
OCGA §
48-5-306 (d). This conclusion is readily apparent from the
introductory clause of §
48-5-306 (d), which states that the rights afforded
thereunder are “[n]otwithstanding the provisions of Code Section
50-18-71.”
In enacting OCGA §
48-5-306 (d), the legislature clearly intended that county
tax assessment records be handled differently than other forms of public records
and thus carved them out of the Open Records Act for specific treatment....
... (construing “notwithstanding” clause as indicative of “intent to displace” other
law). The Open Records Act is equally clear that its enforcement provisions
apply only to records requests made in compliance with the Act’s own specific
requirements. See OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (3) (“[t]he [Act’s] enforcement
provisions ....
...shall be available only to enforce compliance and punish
noncompliance when a written request is made consistent with this subsection”
(emphasis added)). Given that Plaintiffs’ requests for information were made
pursuant to OCGA §
48-5-306 (d) and not OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (3), the Open
Records Act is not available to enforce compliance with such requests.
2....
Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Aug 13, 2024 | 320 Ga. 170
...For the reasons that follow, we
conclude that the Open Records Act applies to such records, and
while we agree with the Court of Appeals that an agency may
designate an open records officer upon whom all written open
records requests to the agency must be made, see OCGA §
50-18-71
(b) (1) (B), 1 we conclude that, even when such an officer has been
designated by an agency, a request for public records related to a
private contractor’s services to a public agency can be served upon
non-agency custodians of the...
...records—including the
private contractor if he or she is the custodian of the records
sought—and the Court of Appeals erred in concluding otherwise.
See Milliron v. Antonakakis,
369 Ga. App. 121, 125 (1) (891 SE2d
448) (2023). See also OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) (“A request made
pursuant to this article may be made to the custodian of a public
record orally or in writing.”)....
...of the motion to dismiss and remand the case to the Court of Appeals
with direction to remand to the trial court for further proceedings.
—————————————————————
1 The pertinent portion of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) provides that “[a]n
agency may, but shall not be obligated to, require that all written requests be
made upon ....
...Records officer,” which was “neither Antonakakis nor his personal
8
attorney.” Id. at 124-125 (1) (citing OCGA § 50-1-71 (b) (1) (B)). The
Court of Appeals determined that, because, “under the plain terms
of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B), Milliron’s request for documents sent
directly to Antonakakis was not properly submitted, [ ] the trial
court correctly determined that the faulty request [was] not a viable
means to support Milliron’s action for an injunction” and “properly
dismissed his case.”6 Id. (citing OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (3) (“The
enforcement provisions of [OCGA]
50-18-73 and
50-18-74 shall be
available only to enforce compliance and punish noncompliance
when a written request is made consistent with this subsection and
shall not be available wh...
...shall be broadly construed to allow the inspection of governmental
records.” Id.
Within this framework, the General Assembly established
that, with a few exceptions, “[a]ll public records shall be open for
personal inspection and copying,” OCGA §
50-18-71 (a), and will
include
all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes,
photographs, computer based or generated information,
data, data fields, or similar material prepared and
maintained or received by an agency...
...for public records within the agency’s custody, an open records
request can still be made to a custodian of public records outside the
agency, like here to a private contractor working for an agency. See
15
OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B)....
...individual employees or private contractors—and accordingly,
requests for public records must be submitted directly to an agency.
Antonakakis further asserts that because the agency in this case—
Georgia Tech—has a “duly designated open records officer,” OCGA
§
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B), Milliron’s open records request could have been
served only upon that officer.
—————————————————————
7 Milliron also served an open records request on Georgia Tech’s
designated open records officer for records in Georgia Tech’s custody.
16
The trial court agreed with Antonakakis and concluded that,
under OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (A), only agencies are obligated to
produce public records in response to open records requests—a
conclusion the Court of Appeals did not reject....
...ficer to receive
requests for public records, such requests can only be made upon
that officer—not any other custodian—to be proper and “viable,” and
the Court of Appeals affirmed that determination on appeal. Id. at
125 (1) (citing OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B)). The lower courts erred
in reaching these conclusions because nothing in the plain language
of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) or any other provision of the Open
Records Act dictates that only agencies—whether through a
designated officer or otherwise—can receive requests for public
records and/or are obligated to produce public records or otherwise
make such records available for review.
17
The Open Records Act provides that “[a]ll public records shall
be open for personal inspection and copying,” OCGA §
50-18-71 (a),
and to that end, the Act clearly provides that “[a] request made
pursuant to this article may be made to the custodian of a public
record orally or in writing.” OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) (emphasis
supplied)....
...RY
(2012). So, generally speaking, a “custodian” is someone who has
“custody” of a record—i.e., care and control over it. See BLACK’S
LAW DICTIONARY (9th ed. 2009). In view of these definitions, the
term “custodian” found in OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) is expansive
enough to include anyone with the requisite care and control of
public records....
...And, as we just held, the Act contemplates that a
“private person or entity” working on the agency’s behalf can
prepare, maintain, or receive “public records,” OCGA §
50-18-70 (b)
(2), and under such circumstances, that person would become the
“custodian” of those records. OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B)....
...73 (a) (emphasis
supplied).
Accordingly, the language of the Act contemplates and permits
that a request to inspect and copy public records can be made to
someone outside of an agency. This conclusion is bolstered by the
fact that, in OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B), the General Assembly used
the term “custodian,” as opposed to “agency,” in specifying the party
upon whom an open records request can be made....
...or could be a “custodian” to
whom open record requests can be made under the Act. Id.
While Antonakakis argues that the Open Records Act places
the obligation to produce public records on agencies alone—relying
on the language of OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (A), which provides that
“[a]gencies shall produce for inspection all records responsive to a
request within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three
20
business days of receipt of a request”—that argument is without
merit....
...uch records.
Again, private persons or entities may maintain records of their
work on an agency’s behalf, see OCGA §
50-18-70 (b) (2), and “all”
public records, including those records, “shall be open” for inspection
and copying. OCGA §
50-18-71 (a). If such persons or entities are
“custodians,” then under the plain language of the Act, a request
may be made to them. OCGA §
50-18-71 (b) (1) (B).
The only express limitation the Act provides in this context is
that, where the agency has designated an official or an open records
officer to receive “all written requests” on the agency’s behalf, a
written r...
