Georgia · Open Records Act

The Georgia Open Records Act, the 3-business-day clock kept

AccessPoint manages Open Records Act requests under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq. — the strict three-business-day response, the § 50-18-72 exemptions, and Attorney General mediation — pre-configured for Georgia and running inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

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Georgia at a glance

Response standard
Within 3 business days — produce, or state the cost and a timeline (§ 50-18-71(b)(1)(A))
Mediation & enforcement
Attorney General mediation, or a superior-court action to compel with attorney's fees (§ 50-18-73)
Exemptions
Statutory exemptions in § 50-18-72, each cited when a record is withheld
Charges
Up to 10 cents per page; labour at the lowest-paid capable employee's rate, first quarter-hour free (§ 50-18-71(c))
Oversight
Georgia Attorney General and the superior courts
Languages
English

Built for Georgia

One platform for the whole access-and-privacy mandate, pre-configured for this regime and running in your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

Open records lifecycle

Intake to release under the Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 50-18-70–50-18-77) — the three-business-day response, the produce-or-explain decision, and enforcement referrals — all on Microsoft 365.

The 3-business-day clock

Georgia runs one of the nation's tightest clocks — respond within three business days by producing the records or stating the cost and a timeline. AccessPoint computes the deadline and reminds you before it lands.

Mediation and the superior court

A dispute can go to the Attorney General's Open Government Mediation Program or to a superior-court action to compel, where attorney's fees are available. AccessPoint assembles the record for either path.

Exemptions and redaction

Apply the § 50-18-72 exemptions line by line — citing the specific paragraph for each withholding, as the Act requires — on a colour-coded, audit-trailed redaction record.

Search and copy charges

Charge under Section 71 — up to 10 cents per page, plus search and redaction labour at the lowest-paid capable employee's rate with the first quarter-hour free — and prepay when the estimate tops $500.

In your own tenant

Every request and record stays inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant — no third-party cloud, no cross-border transfers, and no per-user fees.

The 3-business-day duty

In Georgia, the clock is three business days — one of the tightest response duties in the country.

The Open Records Act gives an agency just three business days to act. Within that window the records custodian must either produce the responsive records or, where more time is needed, state in writing the specific records being withheld with the exemption cited, or give a good-faith estimate of the cost and a timeline to produce. There is no routine extension to a comfortable few weeks — the duty to respond lands almost immediately, and a knowing failure is a misdemeanour. AccessPoint computes the three-business-day deadline from intake, reminds the custodian before it lands, and drafts the produce-or-explain response.

3 business days The deadline to respond, computed from intake on the Georgia holiday calendar.
Produce or explain Records out, or the withheld items cited and a cost-and-timeline estimate given.
Reminders before it lands Alerts ahead of the deadline, since a knowing failure is a misdemeanour.

Configured out of the box

Installing the us-ga-ora configuration pack seeds your tenant with everything this regime needs — a starting point you can adjust, not a lock-in.

Related guide: FOI Workflow Quick Check
  • The Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 50-18-70–50-18-77) as the legal-authority and citation spine
  • The Georgia state-holiday calendar and the strict 3-business-day response due-date rules
  • The produce-or-explain response — withheld records cited to their exemption, or a cost estimate and timeline
  • The § 50-18-72 exemptions, colour-coded for redaction, each requiring its paragraph cited
  • Section 71 charges — the 10-cent-per-page copy, the lowest-paid-employee labour rate, the free first quarter-hour, and the $500 prepayment threshold
  • The enforcement workflow — Attorney General Open Government mediation and the superior-court action to compel
  • Georgia timeliness tracking with reminders ahead of the three-business-day deadline
  • Open-records correspondence templates with statutory wording

Georgia Questions

When must a Georgia agency respond to a request?
Within 3 business days. In that window the records custodian must produce the responsive records or, where they cannot be produced then, state in writing the records being withheld with the exemption cited, or give a good-faith estimate of the cost and a timeline. AccessPoint computes the three-business-day deadline from intake and reminds the custodian before it lands.

What makes Georgia different — the 3-business-day clock?
Yes. Three business days is one of the tightest response duties in the country, and there is no routine extension to a comfortable few weeks — a knowing and willful failure is a misdemeanour. The custodian must respond fast, producing records or explaining the withholding and the cost. AccessPoint drives the deadline, the reminders, and the produce-or-explain response.

What can an agency charge?
Charges follow Section 71 — up to 10 cents per page for letter or legal copies, plus search, retrieval, and redaction labour at the hourly rate of the lowest-paid full-time employee with the skill to do it, with the first quarter-hour free; prepayment can be required when the estimate exceeds $500. AccessPoint computes the charge and issues the estimate.

Where does data reside?
Entirely within your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant. Requests, documents, and audit history never leave your control — no third-party cloud, no vendor access, and no cross-border data transfers.

Run the Georgia Open Records Act in One Platform

Try AccessPoint free for 30 days, pre-configured for Georgia. No credit card required.

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