Georgia Open Records:
From Request to Resolution

How was the money spent? Start with the records.

Georgia's Open Records Act gives the public access to public records for inspection and copying, unless a legal exemption applies.

But before you send a request, find out which government is responsible for the records you need.

Let's use a fictional example. A public park has been repaired, and you want to understand what the work cost.

Is the project managed by the city, the county, or another public agency? The administration matters. Start by identifying who handles that project.

Check the official city or county website for its designated open records officer and submission instructions. If you cannot find that information, email or call the city or county clerk.

Ask: Who handles open records requests for this park repair project, and where should I send my written request?

If that office does not handle the project, ask whether it can identify the agency that does.

Always submit your actual records request in writing, by letter or email, to the appropriate recipient.

Georgia law allows oral requests. But to use the Act's enforcement provisions, your request must be in writing and comply with the law's submission requirements. That is why our recommendation is simple: put it in writing.

Now describe the records you want. Instead of only asking why the repair was expensive, request documents that can help answer that question.

For example: Please provide the signed contract, approved change orders, invoices, and payment records for the repair project at the named park, from January first through June thirtieth, twenty twenty-six.

Use the actual park name and dates that fit your request. This example does not authorize any particular fee. We will cover cost limits and estimates in a separate lesson.

Keep your request, any delivery confirmation, and every response together.

Your first steps: identify the responsible agency, confirm the correct recipient, and submit your request in writing.

Next, we will build a complete request, including delivery preferences and a cost limit.

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You have found the right agency and the correct person. Now, what should your records request actually say?

Keep it clear, specific, and in writing, by letter or email.

Let's continue our fictional park repair example.

Start with a useful subject line: Open records request, park repair project. Use the park's actual name.

Then identify the records you want. You might write: Under the Georgia Open Records Act, please provide the signed contract, approved change orders, invoices, and payment records for the repair project at this park.

If you know the project number or contractor's name, include it to help identify the work.

Choose dates carefully. A contract may have been signed before construction began. If you only request records created during the repair period, you could miss that earlier contract.

In this example, request the contract and approved change orders for the project, plus invoices and payment records dated January first through June thirtieth, twenty twenty-six. Adjust those dates to fit the actual project.

Next, explain how you would like to receive the records. For example: Please provide electronic copies by email or a download link, where available.

Electronic delivery does not automatically mean there will be no charge. Lawful search, retrieval, and redaction costs may still apply.

Now address costs before work begins. Here is one option: I authorize lawful charges up to twenty dollars. If you expect the total to exceed that amount, please provide a written estimate and obtain my written agreement before incurring costs above that limit.

Twenty dollars is an example you choose, not a legal fee cap.

If you cannot authorize any expense yet, say that clearly: Please provide a written estimate before performing work that would incur a charge. I am not authorizing charges at this time.

That does not require the agency to perform chargeable work for free. You may need to approve costs or narrow the request.

Include an email or mailing address for the response. Check the recipient, park name, dates, and cost instructions. Then send it and keep a copy.

Next: what should happen after the agency receives your request?

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You sent your written records request. What should happen next?

For our ordinary city or county park-records example, Georgia law generally requires the agency to produce responsive records within a reasonable time, not exceeding three business days after receipt.

That is not simply three days to say, we received your email.

First, confirm delivery to the proper recipient. If the agency requires requests to go to designated individuals, the response period does not begin until your written request reaches one of them.

Business days are not the same as calendar days. Check weekends and holidays before deciding a response is overdue.

What if the agency cannot produce everything within three business days?

When responsive records exist, the agency must describe the records that are not yet available and give a timeline for inspection or copying. It must provide those records as soon as practicable.

It must also make available, within the three-business-day period, the records it can locate and produce. Cost-approval rules can affect when search and retrieval proceed.

Back to our fictional park example. Suppose the contract is available, but payment records take longer to retrieve. Look for the available contract, a description of the remaining records, and a timeline for receiving them.

A message saying only, your request is being processed, does not supply that description and timeline.

Now check for costs. If the agency seeks more than twenty-five dollars, it must notify you of the estimate within a reasonable time, not exceeding three business days.

The law may allow search and retrieval to wait for your agreement to the estimate, depending on what you already authorized. Agreement to pay and payment in advance are different issues. We will cover those separately.

If records are withheld, look for the specific legal authority: the Code section, subsection, and paragraph. The law includes timing rules for that notice, including when retrieval is delayed.

If the agency says no responsive records exist, that is different from saying existing records are exempt. Ask for clarification if its answer is unclear.

Keep the response with your original request. Note what was supplied, what remains outstanding, any estimate, and any promised production date.

Next: how to follow up clearly when the response leaves something unanswered.

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Your records request has an unanswered question. How do you follow up?

Keep the follow-up in writing, by letter or email. Be specific about what is missing.

Before sending it, check your original request, the recipient, any response, and any cost estimate. Look for a question the agency may be waiting for you to answer.

If you have received nothing, confirm the delivery address, check for a bounced email or spam-folder response, and review the business-day timeline.

Then reference the original request by date and subject. For example: I am following up on my written request for the park repair records sent on the stated date. Please confirm receipt and provide the records or the applicable response under the Georgia Open Records Act.

Keep a copy of the original request attached or included below your follow-up.

Now suppose the agency sent the contract, but did not address the invoices or payment records.

You could write: Thank you for providing the contract. My original request also included invoices and payment records. Please clarify whether those records will be produced, were not located, or are being withheld.

If existing records are not yet available, ask for a description and a production timeline. Georgia law addresses those duties when responsive records cannot be produced within three business days.

If the agency gave a production date and that date has passed, identify that date and ask for the status, the reason for the delay, and an updated timeline. Asking for an update does not mean that any further delay is automatically justified.

If records are withheld, ask for the specific legal authority: the Code section, subsection, and paragraph.

If the issue is a cost estimate, ask for the information you need to evaluate it before agreeing to additional charges. Keep clear what you have already authorized.

Be careful about scope. Adding new dates, new people, or different record categories can expand what you are asking for. Clearly distinguish a follow-up on the original request from a new or expanded request.

Stay factual. Describe what you requested, what you received, and what remains unanswered. Avoid guessing why something is missing.

Keep the correspondence together. If the issue remains unresolved, that record will help explain the concern.

Next: understanding what an agency may charge.

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Public records are open to the public. Does that mean every request is free?

Not necessarily. Georgia's Open Records Act allows reasonable charges for searching, retrieving, redacting, and producing or copying records.

But the law places limits on those charges. The agency must use the most economical means reasonably calculated to identify and produce responsive, nonexempt records.

Start with labor.

Under the general rule, charges for searching, retrieving, or redacting records cannot exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest-paid full-time employee who has the necessary skill and training, in the custodian's reasonable discretion.

That is not automatically the salary of whichever employee happens to handle your request.

The first fifteen minutes of that work must be provided without charge. That does not make every request free, and it does not eliminate a separate lawful copying charge.

For ordinary letter-size or legal-size paper copies, the general limit is ten cents per page. For other documents, the law permits the actual cost of producing the copy. For electronic records, it permits the actual cost of the media used to provide them.

Specific fees authorized or prescribed by another law can apply to particular records, including certified copies. If the agency relies on a special fee, ask which law authorizes it.

Let's work through a fictional example.

Assume the necessary search, retrieval, and redaction take seventy-five minutes total. Assume twenty dollars per hour is the proper rate under the law.

Subtract the first fifteen minutes. That leaves sixty billable minutes, or one hour. One hour at twenty dollars is twenty dollars.

Now assume you requested thirty ordinary paper pages at ten cents each. Thirty times ten cents is three dollars.

The total is twenty-three dollars: twenty dollars for labor, plus three dollars for copies. This assumes no special statutory fee or other charge applies.

Electronic delivery may avoid paper-copy charges, but lawful labor costs may remain.

Before approving an estimate, ask how the time, rate, free fifteen minutes, and copying charges were calculated.

Next: what information to request when a cost estimate needs clarification.

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You receive a cost estimate for your records request. It gives you a total, but no explanation. What should you ask next?

Start with a written follow-up. Use a letter or email, identify your original request, and keep the estimate with your correspondence.

Ask how the total was calculated. Request the estimated time for searching, retrieving, and redacting records, the hourly rate, and how the first fifteen minutes without charge were applied.

Ask how the rate meets the lowest-paid qualified full-time employee standard we discussed in the last episode.

Then separate copying and other costs. Ask for the number of paper pages, the price per page, and any media or other production charges. If a special statutory fee applies, ask for the law authorizing it.

These are practical questions for evaluating an estimate. We are not saying the statute requires one particular itemized invoice format.

Here is a fictional example. You requested a park repair contract, invoices, and payment records. The agency estimates one hundred eighty dollars, without explaining the calculation.

Your follow-up could say:

Thank you for the estimate for my park repair records request. Before I decide whether to authorize this amount, please explain the estimated work time, hourly rate, and application of the first fifteen minutes without charge. Please separate copying and other charges and identify any special statutory fee. Would limiting the request to the final contract and paid invoices reduce the estimate? Please provide a revised estimate for that option. I am asking about an option, not changing my request or approving additional costs at this time.

Use that wording only if it accurately reflects what you have already authorized. Asking for clarification does not erase an earlier agreement to pay.

Once lawfully estimated and agreed-upon costs have been incurred, the agency may collect them even if you do not inspect or accept the records.

Keep the original estimate, your questions, and the response together. Compare the explanation with the fee rules before making your decision.

Next: deciding whether to proceed, narrow your request, or seek more clarification, including when prepayment may apply.

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You have reviewed the cost estimate. Now comes the decision: proceed, narrow the request, or ask more questions.

First, separate two things: agreeing to pay and paying in advance.

When an agency will seek more than twenty-five dollars, Georgia law requires notice and an estimate within a reasonable time, no later than three business days.

The agency may defer search and retrieval until you agree to the estimate, unless your request already states a willingness to pay an amount exceeding the search and retrieval costs.

That is different from prepayment. When estimated production costs exceed five hundred dollars, the agency may insist on payment before beginning work. Exactly five hundred dollars does not exceed that threshold.

There is another rule for unpaid, lawfully incurred costs from a prior request. The agency may require prepayment for future requests until those costs are paid or the payment dispute is resolved.

If you are asked to prepay, ask which provision applies to your request.

Now consider your options.

If the estimate is clear and you want to proceed, identify the estimate and state your authorization in writing. Avoid an open-ended approval if you intend to set a limit.

For example: I authorize the work described in your estimate, up to fifty dollars total. Please contact me before incurring costs above that amount.

That is a fictional authorization example, not a statement that every request should cost fifty dollars. Tailor it to the estimate, your budget, and any earlier agreement.

If the estimate is beyond your budget, consider fewer record categories or a shorter date range. Ask what that change would cost before deciding.

If you choose the smaller request, state exactly what replaces the original scope. Keep the written confirmation and revised estimate.

If a charge remains unclear, identify the particular issue and request an explanation. A disagreement about one charge should be described precisely.

If you decide not to proceed, say so promptly in writing. Do not assume that withdrawing the request cancels costs already lawfully estimated, agreed to, and incurred.

Save the estimate, your decision, and any payment receipt together.

Next: what to do when an agency says, those are contractor records, and we do not have them.

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Those are contractor records. We don't have them.

If that is the response to your public records request, ask a follow-up question: were these records prepared and maintained, or received, while performing work for the agency?

Georgia's twenty twenty-five amendment expressly requires the agency custodian to retrieve public records held by a private person or entity that were prepared and maintained, or received, in performing a service or function for the agency. It also covers agency records transferred to a private party for storage or future governmental use.

The private party must provide those records when the custodian requests them within the applicable statutory retention period or the period defined in its agreement with the agency, whichever comes later.

That does not make every document belonging to a contractor public. The connection to the agency's work matters, and legal exemptions may still apply.

This provision also says the custodian has no obligation to retrieve records held by another agency or public entity. Identify the right agency and send your written request to its appropriate custodian.

Here is a fictional example. A county hired a private company to inspect park repairs. You requested the inspection reports, and the county says the contractor keeps them.

Follow up with the county custodian in writing. Your email or letter could say:

Thank you for your response. My request concerns inspection reports prepared for the county's park repair project. Please review the custodian's retrieval duty under Georgia's Open Records Act and obtain responsive public records from the contractor. If you believe that duty does not apply, please explain the basis. If responsive records exist but are not yet available, please provide a description and production timeline. For any withheld records, please identify the specific legal authority, including the Code section, subsection, and paragraph.

That example asks the agency to address its responsibility. It does not assume that a violation has occurred.

If retention is raised, ask which retention schedule or agreement applies. If the records were reportedly destroyed, ask for existing records documenting that disposition.

Keep the original request, the contractor explanation, and your follow-up together.

Next: the records arrive. How do you check whether the response answers your request?

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The records arrive. Before you mark the request complete, check what you actually received.

First, save the response and the original files together. Keep an unchanged copy. Make a separate working copy if you want to highlight pages or add notes.

Open every attachment. Check that files open, pages are readable, and any download links work. If something is missing or unreadable, identify the filename or page when you follow up.

Next, compare the response with your written request, including any scope changes you agreed to. Check the record categories, project, people, and date range you actually requested.

Make a simple checklist: requested, received, and still unresolved. Record what the agency says about anything not supplied.

Here is our fictional park example. You requested the contract, invoices, and payment records. The response includes a contract and two invoices, but you have not located payment records.

An invoice shows a bill. By itself, it does not establish that the bill was paid. Check whether the supplied documents include payment information before deciding that category remains unanswered.

Also read the agency's message. Is this a partial response? Are more records scheduled? Does it say some records were not found or were withheld?

If existing responsive records remain unavailable, Georgia law calls for a description and a production timeline under the applicable response requirements. For withheld material, the agency must identify the specific legal authority by Code section, subsection, and paragraph.

Your written follow-up could say:

Thank you for the records. I located the contract and two invoices. I have not located the payment records requested. Please identify where they appear in the production, or clarify whether additional records will be provided, no responsive payment records were located, or records are being withheld. If more records are forthcoming, please provide the production timeline. If records are withheld, please provide the specific legal authority.

That wording describes what you found without claiming the records do not exist or accusing anyone of hiding them.

Keep new questions separate from missing items in your original request. Asking for different dates or additional categories may expand the scope.

Update your checklist when another response arrives. Save each delivery and its accompanying message.

Next: understanding redactions and withheld records, and asking for the legal basis.

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You receive a document with information blacked out, or a response saying records are withheld. What should you check?

A redaction removes or obscures part of a record. Withholding may keep an entire record from disclosure. Neither, by itself, proves that the agency acted improperly.

Georgia's Open Records Act recognizes legal exceptions. It also directs that exceptions be interpreted narrowly, excluding only the portions of records covered by the exception.

So start with the legal basis. When an agency withholds all or part of a requested record, it must identify the specific legal authority by Code section, subsection, and paragraph.

A general statement such as confidential, private, or exempt does not supply that specific citation.

Read the cited provision. Check what information it covers and whether it contains conditions, exceptions, or limits. A citation is the starting point for understanding the decision, not proof that every redaction is correct.

Here is a fictional example. The county supplies a park-project document with several passages blacked out, but the response gives no legal citation.

Your written follow-up could say:

Thank you for the records. Several passages in the park-project document are redacted. Please identify the specific legal authority for these redactions, including the Code section, subsection, and paragraph. Please clarify which redactions each cited provision addresses and provide any remaining nonexempt portions. If an entire responsive record was withheld, please identify the legal authority for that withholding as well.

Include the filename and page numbers so the agency can locate the passages. Asking how a citation relates to particular redactions is a practical clarification step; this example does not demand a particular legal-log format.

If the response includes a citation but you still have questions, identify the exact passage or category you do not understand. Ask how the cited provision applies without asking the agency to reveal the protected information itself.

Keep the original redacted copy, the agency's explanation, and your correspondence. If a revised copy arrives, save it separately so you can track the change.

If the issue remains unresolved, organize the request, response, disputed material, and your follow-up before seeking further help.

Next: Georgia's Attorney General open-government mediation program, and how to prepare a clear request for assistance.

Clock Accountability. Citizens for Oversight, Compliance and Knowledge.

You have requested records, reviewed the response, and followed up. A concern remains unresolved. Where can you ask for help?

The Georgia Attorney General's Office offers an informal Open Government Mediation Program. Its published guidance describes help with local-government open records and open meetings disputes, with the aim of resolving problems without litigation.

Submitting a complaint is a request for review. It does not itself establish that a violation occurred or guarantee a particular outcome.

The office reviews submissions. If your complaint is selected as a candidate for mediation, an attorney will be assigned and you will be contacted. The office cautions that complaint volume may limit responses to status inquiries while mediation is pending.

Before submitting, organize a short timeline. Identify the agency, when and where you sent your written request, what you requested, what the agency supplied or explained, and what remains unresolved.

Keep the original request, responses, estimates, and follow-ups ready. Separate what the documents show from what you believe may have gone wrong.

Here is a fictional summary:

I requested the county's park repair contract, invoices, and payment records. The county supplied the contract and invoices. I followed up in writing about payment records but have not received them or an explanation addressing that category. I am requesting assistance resolving this unanswered part of my request. My correspondence is available.

Add the actual dates and identify any later response. Do not describe the agency as silent if it responded but left a particular issue unanswered.

Use the official Open Government Complaint page at law dot georgia dot gov. It asks for contact information, the government entity, the complaint type, and brief, specific facts.

Follow the current submission instructions. For multiple supporting documents, the page says to tell the office after it contacts you; it will provide instructions for sending them.

Read the privacy notice carefully. The office says information submitted through the form becomes an open record, and the complaint may be shared with the government entity. It instructs users not to submit sensitive information through that form.

Save a copy of what you submit and any confirmation you receive. Keep later correspondence with the same request file.

Next: tracking what happens after you ask for assistance, and documenting what is resolved or still open.

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You have asked for assistance with an open records concern. How do you keep track of what happens next?

Keep your request, agency responses, complaint submission, and later correspondence together. Record any reference number provided.

A complaint submitted, a complaint selected for mediation, and an issue resolved are different stages. Record only what the correspondence supports.

The Attorney General's office reviews submissions and contacts you if your complaint is selected for mediation. Its guidance cautions that complaint volume may limit responses to status inquiries while mediation is pending.

Follow the office's document instructions. Keep updates specific: what changed, when, and what remains unanswered.

In our fictional park example, the county provides a payment record for one invoice, but another remains unresolved. Your update could say:

Thank you for the additional record. That part of my concern is resolved. I have not located payment information for the second invoice. Please clarify whether responsive records remain to be produced, were not located, or are being withheld.

Use actual dates and invoice identifiers. Acknowledge progress without marking unanswered items complete. If the office ends its involvement, preserve its explanation and identify any remaining questions.

To close this series, remember where the process begins.

Identify the correct city, county, or agency. Check its website or ask the clerk who handles records requests and where to send them.

Submit your request in writing, by letter or email, to the appropriate recipient. Describe the existing records, relevant project, and dates. State your delivery preference and cost limit. Save your request and delivery information.

The county must comply with Georgia's Open Records Act and provide access to responsive, nonexempt public records. Compliance is a legal duty.

The law governs response timing, production, allowable charges, and withholding. Its three-business-day rules require timely action; when existing records cannot be produced within that period, the county must provide a description and timeline and produce them as soon as practicable. Lawful cost-agreement and prepayment rules may affect when work proceeds.

Review costs, compare delivered records with your request, and follow up on specific gaps. Ask for the precise legal authority when information is withheld.

This process serves transparency. Georgia's law connects access to records with evaluating public spending and the proper functioning of government.

Ask clearly. Keep your documentation. Follow through. Public access rests on legal obligations, and informed residents help make that access meaningful.

Clock Accountability. Citizens for Oversight, Compliance and Knowledge.