We agree with Lisa Cupid. 

Cupid writes, “The public and the press have a legally protected right to know what elected officials are doing with the power granted to them by the people.”

And as the Cobb county commissioner and Georgia First Amendment Foundation board member says, that right to know extends beyond elected officials and includes police. 

The public has the right to record local government meetings, the.actions of government officials and the activities of law enforcement personnel policing our streets and neighborhoods. 

The public has the right to review records and personnel files. 

The public has the right to access internal documents, emails and text messages. 

Government — including the mayor, city council, county commission, county manager, board of education, city police and county sheriff’s office — only has the power we give, or in other words, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Our leaders must not, cannot, conceal our business, and all the work of government is our business. 

All government agencies, including law enforcement agencies, must understand they are conducting the people’s business and must be accountable to the people. 

Concealing the people’s business is against the law in the state of Georgia. 

Concealing, altering or destroying public records is also against the law. 

The public, and the press acting on behalf of the general public, has every right to access records for any reason.

Open, public records are one of the ways the public can, and must, hold public institutions accountable. 

Government must be held accountable. 

That is the American way. 

The only way for the public to hold government accountable is for all of the actions of government to be out in the open. 

That is why open government is part and parcel of democracy.

When government is allowed to operate behind closed doors, it grows out of control, is not responsive to the public and is subject to corruption.

These are some of the reasons we have always been committed to government transparency.

Government, including law enforcement, cannot be operated like a private enterprise. There cannot be any private boardroom secrets, hushed disciplinary actions or the sweeping of controversy under the rug. 

Here is what the law says in Georgia, “The General Assembly finds and declares that the strong public policy of this state is in favor of open government; that open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society; and that public access to public records should be encouraged to foster confidence in government and so that the public can evaluate the expenditure of public funds and the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions. The General Assembly further finds and declares that there is a strong presumption that public records should be made available for public inspection without delay. This article shall be broadly construed to allow the inspection of governmental records. The exceptions set forth in this article, together with any other exception located elsewhere in the Code, shall be interpreted narrowly to exclude only those portions of records addressed by such exception,” (O.C.G.A. 50-18-70).

We encourage you to read the opinion column written by Lisa Cupid and provided by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation which is published here on today’s Point Of View page. 

The only way for local government, including law enforcement, to have and hold the full confidence of the public is to be completely open, transparent and accessible in all of its transactions. 

Editor’s Note: CNHI Deputy National Editor and editor of the Valdosta Daily Times Jim Zachary is the president of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation where Cupid is a board member.