Open records requests in Georgia: deadlines and fees

A Georgia agency must respond to a written open records request within three business days, either by producing the record, denying it in writing, or giving a timeline for production. The request itself can be a short letter or email naming the record you want; no special form is required. Copy fees are limited to the actual cost of the copies, and an agency may not charge for the time spent searching or reviewing.

How do I file an open records request with a Georgia agency?

Georgia's open records law, found at O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 and following, applies to every state agency, county, city, school district and other public body in the state. The law does not require a form, a filing fee or a notarized statement. What it does require is that the request be made in writing, and that it describe the record with enough detail that the agency can find it.

In practice, a request is a short written message. It should name the agency, identify the record, and give a date range if the record is part of a series. A request for "all emails about the budget" is hard to answer; a request for "emails between the director and the finance office between January 1 and March 31, 2024, mentioning the school bus contract" is answerable. The agency is not required to create a record that does not exist, to answer questions, or to compile data in a new format.

Agencies vary in how they receive requests. Many have an open records officer listed on their website; others route requests through a central email address or a portal. If the agency has a designated officer, sending the request there shortens the path. Keep a copy of what you sent and the date you sent it, because the clock runs from receipt, not from the day you wrote it.

For readers who want the procedural detail in one place, including how the three day clock is counted and how the Georgia Archives and the superior court clerk offices fit into the picture, a guide such as the one at Georgia open records request walks through the same steps from the requester's side. The same rules apply whether the record sits with a state department, a county commission or a local board of education.

How long does a Georgia agency have to respond to an open records request?

Three business days. That is the core deadline in the statute. The count begins when the agency receives the request, and weekends and state holidays do not count toward the three days.

The response does not have to be the record itself. The law allows an agency to respond in one of three ways within the three day window. It may produce the record. It may deny the request in whole or in part, in writing, citing the exemption that applies. Or it may tell the requester that the record exists but will take longer to produce, and give a timetable for when it will be available.

That third option is where most disputes begin. A timetable is not an open ended promise; it is supposed to be specific. If the agency says the record will be ready in ten days, the requester can hold it to that date. If the agency says nothing at all within three business days, the request has been denied by silence, and the requester can treat it that way.

There is a second deadline that matters for large requests. When a request involves a substantial number of records, the agency may ask the requester to narrow it, and the two sides may agree on a production schedule. If no agreement is reached, the agency still has to respond within the three day window. The three day rule is a response deadline, not a production deadline, and the distinction is the single most common source of confusion for first time requesters.

What copy fees can a Georgia agency charge for public records?

An agency may charge for the actual cost of the copies it makes. That is the ceiling. It may not charge for the time its staff spends searching for, reviewing or redacting a record, and it may not charge a flat research fee.

For paper copies, the charge is usually a per page rate tied to the agency's actual copying cost, commonly a few cents per page. For electronic records, the agency may charge for the media it provides, such as a flash drive or a disc, and for the staff time directly involved in programming or formatting a new electronic extract. It may not charge for the ordinary work of locating a file that already exists in electronic form.

Some agencies publish a fee schedule on their website. Others quote the fee after they have located the record. In either case, the requester is entitled to know the cost before the copies are made, and to decide whether to proceed. If the estimated cost is high, the requester can narrow the request, ask for inspection instead of copies, or ask for the record in electronic form.

Inspection is the cheapest option and is often overlooked. The law gives a requester the right to inspect a record at the agency during normal business hours, without paying copy charges at all. A requester who only needs to read a document, or to photograph it with a phone, can ask to inspect rather than to copy.

What happens when an agency refuses or stalls?

A denial must be in writing and must cite the specific exemption the agency is relying on. A general claim that a record is "confidential" is not enough. If the agency misses the three day deadline, or denies a record without a valid exemption, the requester has options.

The first is a written follow up that restates the request and notes the missed deadline. Many delays are clerical rather than deliberate, and a short, dated follow up resolves them. The second is to contact the agency's open records officer or its legal counsel directly. The third is to seek the record through the courts. Georgia law allows a requester who substantially prevails in litigation to recover attorney's fees and litigation costs, and the statute provides for a civil penalty in some cases where the violation was not made in good faith.

Before going that far, it helps to know which office actually holds the record. Records about state spending and salaries sit with the agencies that produce them and are also published through the state's transparency portals. Records about births, deaths and property sit with county offices. Records about the state's own history sit with the Georgia Archives. Knowing the custodian shortens the process more than any legal argument does.

Practical notes for a first request

Keep the request narrow and dated. Name the record, not the topic. Ask for electronic copies when they exist, because they are usually cheaper and easier to search. Ask for a fee estimate before production if the volume is uncertain. Put everything in writing, including follow ups, and keep the thread.

A request that follows those habits is easier for the agency to answer and easier for the requester to enforce. The three day clock, the written denial rule and the actual cost limit on copies are the three provisions that do most of the work, and they are the ones worth quoting back when a request goes quiet.

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