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EDITOR’S NOTE: Sunshine Week is an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for the public. The week is sponsored by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee. Sunshine Week is March 10-16. This story is one in a series of related articles being published this week.

VALDOSTA — Georgia’s Open Records Act allows the public access to almost all documents held by local government. 

The Open Records Act defines public records as “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, computer based or generated information, or similar material prepared and maintained or received in the course of the operation of a public office or agency.”

If a public document is withheld, the government agency or public records custodian must cite the code section of Georgia law exempting that document from being inspected or copied.

An open records request is made directly to the government agency’s custodian of records and can be either written or verbal, according to law.georgia.gov.

A response to an open records request must be given within three business days of the request; that response does not have to provide the requested document but could simply answer the request has been heard and is being processed.

City of Valdosta

For the City of Valdosta, open records requests are sent to City Clerk Teresa Bolden. According to the Valdosta City website, Bolden will accept an informal written or oral request, or she may provide an open records request form to be filled out.

“Upon receipt of request, the City Clerk will notify the appropriate Department Head/Director/Division Head by Form ORR-1 for retrieval of information,” according to the Valdosta City website.

For open record requests involving accident reports and the like, the Valdosta Police and Fire Department are contacted. The VPD has an open records request technician whose services can be requested by calling the VPD at (229) 242-2606. The fire department is available at (229) 333-1835.

Valdosta Police Department

Lt. Adam Bembry of the Valdosta Police Department said release of records is handled very carefully due to the amount of personal information.

“The records are extremely important because, say you get in a car accident, your driver’s license, your address, your insurance, your phone number, your date of birth, all that’s on there, and so … something as minor as an accident report, we have to have them fill out a sheet (with) who they are, why they need it, everything, because there is so much personal information on there.”

Lowndes County

For Lowndes County, open records requests go to the Office of the County Clerk. These requests may be verbal, via email or by completing the open records request form, which is available as a PDF at lowndescounty.com under the Office of the County Clerk.

Paige Dukes, Lowndes County clerk, explained some common misunderstandings with record requests.

“Staff and officials try to work with citizens with regards to requests that are actually a question that needs to be answered, not a request for documents,” Dukes said in a past interview. “Sometimes there is confusion between the two. An open records request is a request for existing documents. It does not provide for documents to be created. Regardless of the nature, every effort is made to provide citizens with their information. Local governments do not own information that is subject to the Open Records Act, they are only the repository for what already belongs to the public.”

One can be immediately notified once Lowndes County agendas and meeting minutes are published by joining Notify Me, which is linked on the website under Office of the County Clerk. Meeting agendas are also posted in the first floor lobby of the Administrative Building, 327 N. Ashley St.

Valdosta City Schools

For Valdosta City Schools, Joy Jennings, the executive secretary to the superintendent, can be reached at (229) 671-6053 for a records request. The request must be submitted in writing, whether that is by email or letter. After the submission, the school system has a certain time when the request must be answered.

The cost will depend on the amount of work necessary to answer the request. A simpler request will cost less than a complicated request.

Lowndes County Schools

At Lowndes County Schools, all written requests for public records made pursuant to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated Title 50, Chapter 18, Article 4, must be sent to the open records officer, Randy Cooper, director, Human Resources at Lowndes County Schools, 1592 Norman Drive, Valdosta, Ga. 31601 or to randycooper@lowndes.k12.ga.us.

According to “Georgia’s Sunshine Laws: A Citizen’s Guide to Open Government,” otherwise known as the Red Book, the cost of public documents copies generally cannot exceed 10 cents per page. Agencies may charge for the time taken to retrieve and copy the documents as well but with no charge for the first 45 minutes of labor. There is no fee for inspection of records that are routinely subject to public inspection, such as city ordinances.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256