ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr this week participated in the University System of Georgia’s “Ethics Awareness Week” initiative and provided an update on the Department of Law’s Open Government Tour.

“I was honored to speak to our University System of Georgia leadership during Ethics Awareness Week, which focused on ensuring and protecting public trust,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “Every year, Chancellor Wrigley leads this initiative in order to promote at their institutions a positive, ethical culture - one that is built on integrity, good judgement and public service. We commend this effort, and we will continue working with our clients, city and county governments, members of the media and all of Georgia’s citizens to ensure that our government maintains the public’s trust by operating openly and transparently.”

All 26 institutions of the University System of Georgia participated in Ethics Awareness Week, and the Attorney General's participation highlighted the importance of this annual event.

"The Attorney General helped us drive home the importance of honoring our commitment to the taxpayers of Georgia to be honest, ethical and transparent in our handling of their money and the education of their students," said Chancellor Steve Wrigley. "We are grateful to have a champion of ethics serving the state of Georgia and appreciate Attorney General Carr making time to share his unique perspective with us."

The Department of Law is a leader in promoting an ethical culture and transparency in government. One of the main ways the office protects the public’s interest is by reinforcing the Open Records Act (OMA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA). Through our office’s Open Government Mediation Program, led by Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Colangelo, we help mediate local government disputes by addressing complaints from Georgia citizens. We accomplish this either by assisting them with getting documents or by answering questions and providing information about the requirements of the ORA and the OMA.

Because our office has found that many of the issues that we hear about occur not because of malicious intent, but rather due to a lack of understanding or lack of knowledge about what the law in Georgia is, we conduct presentations as part of our Open Government Tour.

Recent stops around the state include:

  • July 31, 2018 – Office of the Inspector General
  • August 7, 2018 – City of Buena Vista
  • August 9, 2019 – Metro Atlanta Chamber
  • August 13, 2018 – City of Chamblee
  • August 23, 2018 – Bibb County District Attorney’s Office
  • September 11, 2018 – Georgia Records Association
  • November 13, 2018 – City of Winterville

Up-coming stops:

  • November 16, 2018 – City of Doraville
  • December 5, 2018 – ACCG, Advancing Georgia’s Counties

Any Georgia citizen can make an open government request by submitting a request directly to a particular government agency’s custodian of records. Request forms can be found Download this pdf file. here .

For more information on how to request an OMA or ORA training in your community, please contact our office’s Director of Communications at [email protected].