--- title: SB 12. Inspection of Public Records; documents and records in the possession of private persons or entities; revise provisions collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb12 cite_as: SB 12, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb12 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb12.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb12/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69383 date: 2025-05-14 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb11.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb13.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 1281 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb12.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 12 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-14 last_action: Effective Date 2025-05-14 sponsors: - Frank Ginn - Randy Robertson - Carden Summers - Clint Dixon - Shawn Still - Bill Cowsert - Ben Watson - Blake Tillery - Bo Hatchett - John Albers - Matt Brass - Kay Kirkpatrick - Russ Goodman - Steve Gooch - Sam Watson - Emanuel Jones - Kenya Wicks - Brandon Beach - Chuck Payne - Victor Anderson text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB12/2025 upstream_id: 1922188 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - open records - public records law - government transparency - government contractors --- # SB 12. Inspection of Public Records; documents and records in the possession of private persons or entities; revise provisions ## Text 25 LC 47 3644S Senate Bill 12 By: Senators Ginn of the 47th, Robertson of the 29th, Summers o f 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 Co de 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 def initions; 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 Geo rgia 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 S. B. 12 - 1 - 25 LC 47 3644S 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 specifica lly exempted from18 disclosure. Records shall be maintained by agencies to the ext ent 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, howeve r, 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 statutor y 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 S. B. 12 - 2 - 25 LC 47 3644S SECTION 4.38 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.39 S. B. 12 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate bill spells out how public agencies must retrieve records held by private contractors, and clarifies who counts as the official record custodian who must respond to open records requests. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq.) requires most government records to be open for public inspection. This bill adds a new definition of 'custodian' or 'lawful custodian' to mean the agency in charge of a record, or the employee designated to handle that agency's records, clarifying who is responsible for responding to records requests. The bill also rewrites part of the law on how records requests must be handled (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71). It confirms that requests go to the custodian, and that the custodian must retrieve records that a private person or company prepared, maintained, received, or was given for storage while performing work for or on behalf of a government agency. The custodian does not have to retrieve records held by a different agency. Private parties must hand over such records within the time set by the state's record retention rules or any agreement with the agency, whichever is later. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law. ### What it does - Adds a formal definition of 'custodian' or 'lawful custodian' as the agency, or its designated employee, that has charge and control of a public record. - Confirms that open records requests must be directed to the custodian of the records being sought. - Requires custodians to retrieve public records held by private persons or companies that performed a government service or received records for storage on an agency's behalf. - Clarifies that a custodian does not have to retrieve records held by a different agency or public entity. - Sets a deadline for private parties to turn over such records: whichever is later, the state's document retention schedule or a separate agreement with the agency. ### Who it affects State and local government agencies and their designated records custodians, private companies and individuals who perform services for government agencies or store government records, and members of the public or press who file open records requests. ### Why it matters People requesting public records would gain a clearer path to get records even when a private contractor, not the government agency itself, is physically holding them. Contractors would face a defined deadline for turning those records over, reducing ambiguity about who must respond to a records request. ### Key provisions - Section 1 adds paragraph (1.1) to O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70(b), defining 'custodian' or 'lawful custodian' as the agency or designated employee with charge and control of a record. - Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(a) to require requests to be made upon a custodian and to require custodians to retrieve records held by private persons or entities performing agency work. - Section 2 limits custodians' retrieval duty by exempting records held by other agencies or public entities. - Section 2 sets the deadline for private parties to produce records as the later of the statutory retention period or any agreement with the agency. - Section 3 makes the law effective upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature. - Section 4 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-14) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-14 (2025-05-14) - Sponsors: Frank Ginn, Randy Robertson, Carden Summers, Clint Dixon, Shawn Still, Bill Cowsert, Ben Watson, Blake Tillery, Bo Hatchett, John Albers, Matt Brass, Kay Kirkpatrick, Russ Goodman, Steve Gooch, Sam Watson, Emanuel Jones, Kenya Wicks, Brandon Beach, Chuck Payne, Victor Anderson - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69383 > The history, votes, and amendments (1,281 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb12.md?full=1