Under Georgia law, government agencies are required to make *most* records available to the public under fairly broad guidelines. When they don’t, a remedy is supposed to be made available through the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, either through civil or criminal means. But Chris Carr’s Office is largely unresponsive to complaints on Open Government and even in instances of responsiveness, the office rarely uses the resources available to hold local governments accountable. Thus, the Mules of Government list was born.
OPEN RECORDS ACT NON-COMPLIANCE
Chief Asst. District Attorney Barclay Black
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office
Open Records Act Violation – April 2022
- Assessed a $0.50 per page fee on the request when OCGA 50-18-71(c)(2) caps the per-page fee at $0.10.
Effingham County Board of Commissioners
County Clerk Stephanie Johnson
Open Records Act Violations – April 2022
- Refusal to accept Open Records Request via email, as required by OCGA 50-18-71(b)(2)
- Attempted to require pre-payment of documents that were not in excess of $500 in cost. (This is listed in the Open Records portal and in emails regarding fulfillment of requests) OCGA 50-18-71(d)
- Refusal to provide record of data maintained only in software in conflict with OCGA 50-18-71(f)
- Use of employee absence as a reason for records delay, prohibited under OCGA 50-18-71(b)(1)(B)
City of Guyton
City Manager Meketa Brown
- Refused to comply with 3-day window for fulfillment (3/1/22)
- Redaction of information not permissible for redaction under OCGA (3/4/22) [name + officer name on citations in a particular month]
- Redaction of information not permissible for redaction under OCGA (4/29/22) [Timesheet for police officers for a specific day worked
- Refusal to provide information on police officers past work schedule, which included the citation of a code section which did not apply (____)
City of Soperton
City Clerk
Governor’s Office of Planning & Budget
March 2022
- Refusal to accept Open Records Request via email
- Missed 3-day window
OPEN MEETINGS ACT NON-COMPLIANCE
Screven County Board of Commissioners
OTHER OPEN GOVERNMENT NON-COMPLIANCE
City of Guyton
Mayor Russ Deen
- Disconnected teleconference connection of citizens who ask questions after stating ‘Your input is not necessary
- Refusal to allow citizens to be placed on council meeting agenda if subject matter is critical of city council.
- Use of tax dollars to travel to GMA conference on open government to seek advice on how to deal with ‘problem’ of people asking questions & filing ORRs.
FOUNDING LIST MEMBERS
