Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > August > 21 > Entry
Georgia’s public records: make yourself at home with them.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the best ways to get to know the place you live is to look at its paper trail. It’s exactly the kind of stuff that makes huge money at the box office and shows up on the New York Times best-seller list…just…unpolished.
And you have the right to look at a lot of it.
Say you want to know what Georgia’s largest non-profits are doing with their budgets. That info comes from the Internal Revenue Service.
You can find out which campaigns are receiving Georgians money using Federal Elections Commission data.
Or maybe you’re an overzealous soon-to-be parent and you want to know the weirdest and most popular baby names in the state. Thanks to the Department of Human Resources and their records, you can make sure your kid isn’t one of six Madisons or three Ashleys in her first grade class.
Yea records!
Journalists tend to be into records in a way that makes them awesome at work and odd at parties. You don’t have to. A lot of agencies post records online for you to peruse without creating your own analysis.
It’s the kind of information that will tell you whether you’re paying what you should in taxes, what’s in your drinking water and how your kids’ schools stack up, test-wise. (Here’s a list of some of that information, by topic.)
Here’s a quick guide to Georgia’s Open Records Act, including a list from the Secretary of State that details how long agencies must hold on to records.
Looking for more? The Georgia First Amendment Foundation publishes A Citizen’s Guide to Open Government. Thirty-five pages. Totally worth it.
Even if you think you’ll never, ever request a police report or a property record, it’s important to know that you can. There are limits to what is accessible, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and sometimes argue for it.
Welcome to Georgia. Happy reading.
Comments
By Andrew Champeau
August 21, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this
Thank you for an insightful article. My question is this: Are individual IRS tax returns available, provided you have the appropriate information as to the individual? I din’t see any mention of that but wonder how they get them for politicians, etc? Thank you in advance for your response. Sincerely, Andrew Champeau
By Maniac is accurate
August 21, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
Andrew I believe it has become common practice for politicians to disclose their own tax records as a litmus test of openness. I don’t think they are required to. And, I don’t believe I would be able to request and receive a copy of your tax returns or vice versa.
Also, on this topic, be aware that bureaucrats are reluctant to release records that might reflect poorly on them.
One trick they use to discourage you is to state a ridiculous fee for them. By law, cost for records is no more than 25 cents per page. And there may be an hourly rate labor fee for collecting the information, but it must not exceed the rate of pay of the lowest paid employee qualified to pull the records. Stand up and protest if a fee seems too high.
Under the Ga. Open Records Act, custodians of public records are given the option of taking up to three days to respond to your request for records. Too many so-called public servants misread that to mean they have to wait three days. Or if they don’t misunderstand it, many of them are just jacklegs, who do it because they can.
By ron
August 21, 2008 8:25 PM | Link to this
The openness of public records is directly proportonal to the willingess of the person you’re dealing with to act on your request.Nothing short of a court order will motitvate some of these public servants.They figure this is their information and you’re not getting it .
By becky mattix
August 22, 2008 5:42 AM | Link to this
Jamie, What can be done about a school system charging a ridiculous fee to retrieve info on money spent on a timeclock, money spent on audits, money spent on lawsuits, etc..?
By Feddie
August 22, 2008 7:17 AM | Link to this
Andrew—Tax returns are housed at the Federal Records Center (there is one in Ellenwood, GA). They continue to be under the control and restrictions of the IRS. Employees at Nara are not able to access these records for the public.
I’m not familiar with Georgia Open Records Act, but FOIA requests are handled on a first come first served basis and can take 20 business days to fulfill. That doesn’t mean that we (I’m revealing myself) wait that long to process an individual request…..yours may be 15th on the list. Sometimes people, mostly reporters (sorry, Jamie), feel that their request should be processed immediately because they feel it is more important than someone elses.
Maniac and Ron-not all public servants are bureaucrats clutching records tightly to our chest. As far as I’m considered, public access is my highest priority.
By Feddie
August 22, 2008 7:28 AM | Link to this
Oh, and one more thing…
Not all requests need to be made under the umbrella of FOIA. If the records are already open without restrictions, you will get them much faster if you simply file a request (turn-around 10 business days v. 20). If you are told there are restrictions, then play the FOIA card.