How to Make an Open Records Request

An Open Records Request should be made directly to the government agency’s custodian of the records. If an agency has assigned a particular person to handle requests, that information will be available on the agency’s website.

Under the Georgia Open Records Act, all public records are available for inspection and copying unless they are specifically exempted from disclosure under the law. If a government agency or custodian of public records withholds a public document from production under an Open Records Request, they must cite to the specific statutory provision of Georgia law that exempts the record from being produced.

A request to inspect or copy records may be made either orally or in writing. For purposes of documenting and clarifying the scope and timing of the request, it is a better practice to make the request in writing, and actions to enforce the ORA can only be based on written requests.

A form that you can fill out to submit a request to an agency is available here .