2.9 Open Records Act of Georgia

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(2) Information Management

Policy Title:

Open Records Act of Georgia

Policy Number:

2.9

Previous Policy Number(s):

1301.26, 2109.4, 2109.12

Effective Date:

April 2024

Manual Transmittal:

2024-04

Codes/References

O.C.G.A. § 15-11-741 Definitions
O.C.G.A. § 49-5-40 Definitions; Confidentiality of Records
O.C.G.A. § 49-5-41 Persons and Agencies Permitted Access to Records
O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 Legislative Intent
O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 When Public Disclosure Not Required
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Section 106(b)(2)(B)(x)

Requirements

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will:

  1. Make child welfare records available for public inspection and copying upon request in accordance with state and federal law to comply with the Open Records Act (ORA) of Georgia.

    All public records shall be open for personal inspection and copying, except those which by order of a court of this state or by law are specifically exempted from disclosure.

  2. Accept written requests by e-mail or facsimile transmission in addition to any other methods of transmission approved by the agency.

  3. Release child welfare records to any adult upon request, when such requests are made in accordance with the ORA if the records are applicable to a child who at the time of his or her fatality or near fatality was:

    1. In the custody of a state department or agency or in the care of a foster parent;

    2. A child receiving protective services from DFCS, for whom DFCS has an open case, or who has been or whose siblings, parents or other caretakers have been the subject of a report to DFCS within the previous five years;

    3. The subject of an investigation, report, referral, or complaint under the auspices of the Office of the Child Advocate.

  4. Make records available for inspection within three (3) business days of receipt of the request. In any instance where records are unavailable within three (3) business days of receipt of the request, and responsive records exist, provide the requestor with a description of such records and a reasonable timeframe for when the records will be available for inspection or copying and provide the responsive records or access as soon as practicable.

    DFCS is not required to produce records in response to a request if such records did not exist at the time of the request.

Procedures

County Director

  1. Upon receipt of the ORA request for child welfare records, immediately notify the DHS Office of General Counsel (OGC) of the request for information.

  2. Submit the case record to the DHS OGC by the following business day after receiving the request, via overnight mail or hand-delivery.

The County Director is responsible for informing the Regional Director of the receipt of the open records request.

The DHS Office of General Counsel will handle the response to the request including, as applicable, the following:

  1. Preparing records;

  2. Estimating applicable charges/fees; and

  3. Communicating with the requestor.

Practice Guidance

Open Records Act of Georgia

The General Assembly of Georgia has declared its legislative intent of the ORA to align with public policy in favor of open government. Open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society; and public access to public records should be encouraged to foster confidence in government 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. The ORA should be broadly construed to allow the inspection of governmental records. No public officer or agency shall be required to prepare new reports, summaries, or compilations not in existence at the time of the request.

Open Records Officer

The Department of Human Services will work diligently in fulfilling requests for documents in accordance with the Open Records Act. As authorized by O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71 (b) (2), the Department has designated an Open Records Officer. Official requests for records under the Open Records Act must be made directly to the Open Records Officer. Official Open Record Requests can be sent to the Open Records Officer:

  1. By email at openrecordsdhs@dhs.ga.gov; or

  2. By mail to:

    Georgia Department of Human Services
    Office of General Counsel
    Attn: Open Records Officer
    47 Trinity Avenue SW
    Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Public Record Definition

All documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, computer based or generated information, data, data fields, or similar material prepared and maintained or received by an agency or by a private person or entity in the performance of a service or function for or on behalf of an agency or when such documents have been transferred to a private person or entity by an agency for storage or future governmental use.

Near Fatality Definition

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines “near fatality”, as “an act that places a child in serious or critical condition as certified by a physician.”

Applicable Charges for ORA Request

An agency may impose a reasonable charge for the search, retrieval, redaction, and production or copying costs for the production of records. An agency may charge a fee for the copying of records or data, not to exceed 10 cent(s) per page for letters or legal size documents or, in the case of other documents, the actual cost of producing the copy. In the case of electronic records, the agency may charge the actual cost of the media on which the records or data are produced.

Response to ORA Request

In any instance in which an agency is required to or has decided to withhold all or part of a requested record, the agency shall notify the requester of the specific legal authority exempting the requested record or records from disclosure by Code section, subsection, and paragraph within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days or in the event the search and retrieval of records is delayed, then no later than three business days after the records have been retrieved.

In any instance in which an agency will seek costs in excess of $25.00 for responding to a request, the agency shall notify the requester within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days and inform the requester of the estimate of the costs, and the agency may defer search and retrieval of the records until the requester agrees to pay the estimated costs unless the requester has stated in his or her request a willingness to pay an amount that exceeds the search and retrieval costs. In any instance in which the estimated costs for production of the records exceed $500.00, an agency may insist on prepayment of the costs prior to beginning search, retrieval, review, or production of the records. Whenever any person who has requested to inspect or copy a public record has not paid the cost for search, retrieval, redaction, or copying of such records when such charges have been lawfully incurred, an agency may require prepayment for compliance with all future requests for production of records from that person until the costs for the prior production of records have been paid or the dispute regarding the payment has been resolved.

Forms and Tools

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