Open Records - Operational Policies and Procedures
Effective Date:
Last Updated: 12/07/2009
The Georgia Open Records Act requires that public records be open and available for inspection by any member of the public. Because the University is a public agency, it is subject to the act. The Office of Public Affairs is responsible for administering the University's compliance with the Georgia Open Records Act. This law places important responsibilities on every faculty and staff administrator
The law makes virtually every record held by UGA, with only a few specific exceptions, accessible to any citizen who requests to see it. It is not necessary for the requestor to show particular need or interest in the matters covered by the record in order to gain access. Placing unnecessary barriers between citizens and the records to which they are entitled access serves no positive purpose for the University. Therefore, it is the University's intention and goal to comply with requests for records without making the requestor invoke the formal procedures of the Open Records Act.
Documents Covered by Open Records Law
The great majority of documents in the possession of University personnel must be made available under the Open Records law. They include student evaluations of academic courses; personnel files of all employees (excluding Social Security numbers, medical information or information relating to the designation of beneficiaries); employee performance evaluations; any e-mails sent or received on University-owned equipment, or through private equipment housed on UGA property, regardless of whether the subject matter is business related; hand-written notes; videotapes; and photographs. Records held by private persons for a state agency, and records held away from the work site, are also subject to the law.
Exemptions to the Open Records Law
The law presumes all records are open and places the burden on the University to demonstrate than any requested materials are exempt. Such exemptions are limited and have been interpreted very narrowly by the courts. If a public record contains both exempt and non-exempt material, the exempt portion must be removed and the remaining non-exempt material disclosed. Following are exemptions most relevant to UGA:
- Medical and veterinary records
- Records relating to pending criminal investigations
- Records required by the federal government to be kept confidential, such as student academic records
- Trade secrets and certain information of a proprietary nature
- Certain research data, records or information that has not been published, patented or otherwise publicly disseminated
- Confidential evaluations submitted to a public agency in connection with the hiring of a public employee
- Personal information concerning donors or potential donors to any public post-secondary educational institution
Procedures for Processing Requests Under the Open Records Law
The law requires that records requested under the Open Records law be provided to the requestor by the third business day after the request is filed. Thus, it is imperative that any employee receiving a request for records held under his/her individual or departmental responsibility immediately notify the Open Records manager in the Public Affairs Office by calling 706-542-8090. The Open Records manager will contact the requestor directly to determine more precisely what they want to know, and will work with them to determine which records will best provide the information they seek. The Open Records manager will then contact the administrator responsible for those records to determine if they exist, how voluminous they are and how much time may be required to search and assemble them.
If the answer is a simple one and the records minimal, the Open Records manager will try to respond immediately and completely on the first day. For more complicated requests, the manager will notify the requestor of the existence of the records and the cost of searching, assembling and copying them, and determine if the requestor wishes to proceed. If so, the manager will notify the department to assemble the records and provide them to Public Affairs as quickly as possible.
The University by policy will notify employees whose performance evaluations or personnel records are being released under an Open Records request.
The Georgia Open Records Act does not specify any particular records that must be maintained for a specific period of time (although other federal and state laws do impose such time requirements). However, once they are the subject of a request, no record or document can be erased, shredded or otherwise disposed of under penalty of law.
Charges for processing Open Records requests
The law allows a copying fee of not more than 25 cents per page and a charge for staff time used in the search, based on the pay rate of the lowest-paid employee qualified to search and assemble the documents. All fees received through compliance with Open Records requests accrue to the University's general fund.
The great majority of documents in the possession of University personnel must be made available under the Open Records law. They include student evaluations of academic courses; personnel files of all employees (excluding Social Security numbers, medical information or information relating to the designation of beneficiaries); employee performance evaluations; any e-mails sent or received on University-owned equipment, or through private equipment housed on UGA property, regardless of whether the subject matter is business related; hand-written notes; videotapes; and photographs. Records held by private persons for a state agency, and records held away from the work site, are also subject to the law.
The law presumes all records are open and places the burden on the University to demonstrate than any requested materials are exempt. Such exemptions are limited and have been interpreted very narrowly by the courts. If a public record contains both exempt and non-exempt material, the exempt portion must be removed and the remaining non-exempt material disclosed. Following are exemptions most relevant to UGA:
- Medical and veterinary records
- Records relating to pending criminal investigations
- Records required by the federal government to be kept confidential, such as student academic records
- Trade secrets and certain information of a proprietary nature
- Certain research data, records or information that has not been published, patented or otherwise publicly disseminated
- Confidential evaluations submitted to a public agency in connection with the hiring of a public employee
- Personal information concerning donors or potential donors to any public post-secondary educational institution
Procedures for Processing Requests Under the Open Records Law
The law requires that records requested under the Open Records law be provided to the requestor by the third business day after the request is filed. Thus, it is imperative that any employee receiving a request for records held under his/her individual or departmental responsibility immediately notify the Open Records manager in the Public Affairs Office by calling 706-542-8090. The Open Records manager will contact the requestor directly to determine more precisely what they want to know, and will work with them to determine which records will best provide the information they seek. The Open Records manager will then contact the administrator responsible for those records to determine if they exist, how voluminous they are and how much time may be required to search and assemble them.
If the answer is a simple one and the records minimal, the Open Records manager will try to respond immediately and completely on the first day. For more complicated requests, the manager will notify the requestor of the existence of the records and the cost of searching, assembling and copying them, and determine if the requestor wishes to proceed. If so, the manager will notify the department to assemble the records and provide them to Public Affairs as quickly as possible.
The University by policy will notify employees whose performance evaluations or personnel records are being released under an Open Records request.
The Georgia Open Records Act does not specify any particular records that must be maintained for a specific period of time (although other federal and state laws do impose such time requirements). However, once they are the subject of a request, no record or document can be erased, shredded or otherwise disposed of under penalty of law.
Charges for processing Open Records requests
The law allows a copying fee of not more than 25 cents per page and a charge for staff time used in the search, based on the pay rate of the lowest-paid employee qualified to search and assemble the documents. All fees received through compliance with Open Records requests accrue to the University's general fund.
The law requires that records requested under the Open Records law be provided to the requestor by the third business day after the request is filed. Thus, it is imperative that any employee receiving a request for records held under his/her individual or departmental responsibility immediately notify the Open Records manager in the Public Affairs Office by calling 706-542-8090. The Open Records manager will contact the requestor directly to determine more precisely what they want to know, and will work with them to determine which records will best provide the information they seek. The Open Records manager will then contact the administrator responsible for those records to determine if they exist, how voluminous they are and how much time may be required to search and assemble them.
If the answer is a simple one and the records minimal, the Open Records manager will try to respond immediately and completely on the first day. For more complicated requests, the manager will notify the requestor of the existence of the records and the cost of searching, assembling and copying them, and determine if the requestor wishes to proceed. If so, the manager will notify the department to assemble the records and provide them to Public Affairs as quickly as possible.
The University by policy will notify employees whose performance evaluations or personnel records are being released under an Open Records request.
The Georgia Open Records Act does not specify any particular records that must be maintained for a specific period of time (although other federal and state laws do impose such time requirements). However, once they are the subject of a request, no record or document can be erased, shredded or otherwise disposed of under penalty of law.
The law allows a copying fee of not more than 25 cents per page and a charge for staff time used in the search, based on the pay rate of the lowest-paid employee qualified to search and assemble the documents. All fees received through compliance with Open Records requests accrue to the University's general fund.