The high court’s Aug. 13 decision is a victory for government transparency in our state.
The Supreme Court of Georgia has unanimously reaffirmed that Georgians have the right to demand public records from a government agency’s private contractors.
The high court’s Aug. 13 decision in the case, Milliron v. Antonakakis, is a victory for government transparency in our state, affirming:
- Records held by a private contractor related to their services for a public agency are subject to the Open Records Act.
- A request for public records can be submitted directly to the custodian of the records, even if the custodian is a private contractor and even if the agency for which the private contractor provides services has designated an open records officer for receipt of open records requests.
The Georgia First Amendment Foundation filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case in April, urging the Court to rule as it did today. GFAF also filed a separate brief in December 2023 urging the Court to take the case on appeal.
At issue was a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling, handed down in August 2023, asserting that members of the public must submit requests for public records held by government contractors to a government agency’s designated open records officer, even if the agency does not have custody of the records. The records at issue in the case were held by an individual who was both an employee of the government agency and performed work for the agency as a contractor.
“The Georgia Supreme Court opinion is a welcome confirmation of Georgia’s commitment to open access to public records. The Court’s ruling, which allows members of the public to seek open records directly from government contractors, is crucial for protecting meaningful records access in Georgia,” said Sarah Brewerton-Palmer, vice president of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation board of directors and lead attorney in the foundation’s filings in Milliron v. Antonakakis.
“Government contractors are often the only ones who have copies of the records they create during their work. Forcing the public to go through a government agency to get those records would in many cases mean that the records are never actually provided,” Brewerton-Palmer explained. “To perform meaningful oversight of government contractors, journalists and citizens must be able to see the public records in contractors’ possession, and the Georgia Supreme Court’s ruling makes sure that can happen.”
In its Aug. 13 ruling, the Court detailed the justices’ “conclusion that a request for public records can be submitted to the custodian of those records—including, where appropriate, a private contractor who performs services for an agency” and determined that the Court of Appeals erred in holding otherwise last year. The high court sent the case back to the trial court to proceed.
Photo courtesy of the Supreme Court of Georgia
>>> LEARN MORE:
GFAF weighs in on high court review of access to public records
GFAF encourages high court to protect access to public records held by private persons and companies
