Jill Chambers proposes to make Open Records Act violations a felony

The Associated Press -- Mon, Oct. 29, 2007

ATLANTA -- A Georgia lawmaker says she wants to make it a felony to deliberately violate the state's Open Records Act.

State Rep. Jill Chambers, R-Atlanta, said she plans to introduce a bill to make the law easier to understand and possibly eliminate some exemptions. Chambers said she would make "willfully and knowingly violating" the Open Records Act a felony, with a fine of up to $5,000. Under current law violations are a misdemeanor, subject to a $100 fine.

The law requires public officials to allow citizens to view and photocopy most government documents. Exceptions include medical or veterinary records, confidential police and prosecution investigative files, individuals' Social Security numbers, and others.

Chambers said she believes the law is confusingly written and that many violations result from misunderstanding it. "Just trying to read it and understand it would be a major accomplishment," she said. "It's so hard to find what you need in the law, and then once you do find it, it's so hard to understand.

"There will always be people who flagrantly violate the Open Records Act. But there are also people who violate it because they don't understand it."

Hollie G. Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, said there is "room for improvement" in the Open Records Act, but her main concern is not that the law confusingly written. Manheimer would like to see the law encourage, rather than discourage, citizens from filing Open Records Act requests.

As the law now stands, individuals are rarely awarded attorney fees in lawsuits based on Open Records Act claims. "Right now, big media companies are the only ones who can afford to bring these lawsuits," said Manheimer, who practices law in Decatur with Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield.

Chambers said she wants the law to keep its exceptions for Social Security numbers and credit card information. "We've got to be careful with that kind of information because of the rise of identity theft," she said.