Often in family law or criminal defense cases, you may find yourself in need of certain public records as part of your case.  Most often the records needed are police reports that have been created.  So how do you retrieve those records?  That is where the Georgia Open Records Act comes into play.

Georgia Open Records Act

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71,

“(a) All 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. Records shall be maintained by agencies to the extent and in the manner required by Article 5 of this chapter.

(b) (1) (A) Agencies 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; provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall require agencies to produce records in response to a request if such records did not exist at the time of the request. In those instances where some, but not all, records are available within three business days, an agency shall make available within that period those records that can be located and produced. In any instance where records are unavailable within three business days of receipt of the request, and responsive records exist, the agency shall, within such time period, provide the requester with a description of such records and a timeline for when the records will be available for inspection or copying and provide the responsive records or access thereto as soon as practicable.”

Agency Open Records Request Forms

Although not required, several law enforcement agencies have open records request forms provided online (or in their agencies), which often helps speed up the process.  For example, in Griffin, Georgia, you can obtain their city specific open records request form HERE.

Where Clients Become Family

If you need help obtaining open records, or if you just want to ask a few questions, give us a call at 770-415-9848 today at The Sellers Law Firm, LLC: where clients become family.

Case Evaluation Request

You can also submit a case evaluation request on our website HERE.