25 LC 47 3644S
Senate Bill 12
By: Senators Ginn of the 47th, Robertson of the 29th, Summers of the 13th, Dixon of the
45th, Still of the 48th and others
AS PASSED
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
1
relating to inspection of public records, so as to revise provisions related to public records2
in the possession of private persons or entities; to revise definitions; to provide for related3
matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:5
SECTION 1.6
Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to7
inspection of public records, is amended in subsection (b) of Code Section 50-18-70, relating8
to legislative intent and definitions, by adding a new paragraph to read as follows:9
"(1.1) 'Custodian' or 'lawful custodian' means the agency that has charge, custody, care,
10
and control over a public record or an employee of such agency who is designated as the11
custodian of such agency's records."12
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SECTION 2.
13
Said article is further amended in Code Section 50-18-71, relating to right of access, timing,14
fees, denial of requests, and impact of electronic records, by revising subsection (a) as15
follows:16
"(a)(1)
All public records shall be open for personal inspection and copying, except those17
which by order of a court of this state or by law are specifically exempted from18
disclosure. Records shall be maintained by agencies to the extent and in the manner19
required by Article 5 of this chapter.20
(2)(A) All requests to inspect or copy public records under this article shall be made21
upon a custodian.22
(B) Upon receiving a request to inspect or copy public records under this article, a23
custodian shall comply with the requirements of this Code section, including, but not24
limited to, the requirement to retrieve public records prepared and maintained or25
received by a private person or private entity in the performance of a service or function26
for or on behalf of an agency or transferred to a private person or private entity by an27
agency for storage or future governmental use; provided, however, that a custodian28
shall have no obligation to retrieve public records held by another agency or any other29
public entity. Such private persons or private entities shall be required to produce such30
public records to a custodian upon request from such custodian so long as such request31
is made within the period of time as prescribed by the statutory document retention32
guideline or a period of time as defined in an agreement between the private person or33
private entity and the agency, whichever comes later."34
SECTION 3.35
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law36
without such approval.37
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SECTION 4.
38
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.39
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