In April Governor Nathan Deal signed HB 397 into law. HB 397 is an overhaul of the state’s Open Meetings and Open Records Acts that won bipartisan support within the state legislature this year and is now in effect.
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, the Georgia Press Association, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and other key media and government associations worked hand-in-hand to rewrite this important legislation. So why is this legislation important? It protects the public’s right to know how its government is operating.
Needed overhaul
The new law, which contains more pros than cons in my opinion, includes the following:
• Makes clear that final votes must be taken in public, including on real estate transactions;
• Clarifies and streamlines how government officials must respond to a request;
• Lowers the cost of records from 25 cents to 10 cents a page;
• Enables government to act more efficiently by permitting certain meetings by teleconference in emergency situations;
• Requires minutes in closed meetings with review by a court when a challenge is filed;
• Allows the Attorney General to bring civil or criminal actions against violators;
• Increases fines for violations to a maximum of $1000, and up to $2500 for additional violations within a year; (Prior fines were a maximum of $100 for an Open Records violation and a maximum of $500 for an Open Meetings violation)
• Updates language regarding trade secrets and electronic documents to ensure transparency is not compromised by technological advances; and
• Incorporates various court rulings to simplify the law.
Thank you to Olens, Rep. Jay Powell (Camilla – bill sponsor), the Georgia Press Association, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the many others who worked to update this antiquated legislation.
-Jamie Gardner
• Makes clear that final votes must be taken in public, including on real estate transactions;
• Clarifies and streamlines how government officials must respond to a request;
• Lowers the cost of records from 25 cents to 10 cents a page;
• Enables government to act more efficiently by permitting certain meetings by teleconference in emergency situations;
• Requires minutes in closed meetings with review by a court when a challenge is filed;
• Allows the Attorney General to bring civil or criminal actions against violators;
• Increases fines for violations to a maximum of $1000, and up to $2500 for additional violations within a year; (Prior fines were a maximum of $100 for an Open Records violation and a maximum of $500 for an Open Meetings violation)
• Updates language regarding trade secrets and electronic documents to ensure transparency is not compromised by technological advances; and
• Incorporates various court rulings to simplify the law.
Thank you to Olens, Rep. Jay Powell (Camilla – bill sponsor), the Georgia Press Association, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the many others who worked to update this antiquated legislation.
-Jamie Gardner
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