Open Records

The Georgia Open Records Act is a state statute that applies to all departments and individuals within the University of West Georgia. The Act requires that public records be open and available for inspection by a requesting party within a reasonable amount of time after the receipt of the request unless exempted by law from disclosure (e.g., student educational records).

The University of West Georgia has designated an Open Records Officer for the University, to whom all Open Records Act requests should be made. The Open Records Officer is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Georgia Open Records Act and coordinating the University’s search, retrieval, and disclosure of records pursuant to open records requests, subpoenas, and requests for production of documents for non-party.

The University requires all written record requests to be made upon the duly appointed Open Records Officer. The 3-day response period begins when the Officer receives the written request.

Individuals Requesting Documents

UWG recommends emailing openrecords@westga.edu to submit your request. Although the use of the form is not required, it is designed to help requestors provide enough detail to clearly identify the records desired. Please be advised that some documents may not be released due to privacy laws or statutes that prohibit their release. All written requests containing personally identifiable information (PII) such as social security numbers, date of birth, etc., shall be sent by mail or fax.

Associated Costs

UWG may impose a reasonable charge for the search, retrieval, redaction, and production or copying costs ($.10 per page) for the production of records. Charges for search, retrieval, and redaction are based on the hourly rate of the lowest-paid, full-time employee who retrieves and copies these documents beyond the fifteen (15) free minutes allowed by statute. In the case of electronic records, the agency may charge the actual cost of the media on which the records or data are produced,

For costs in excess of $25 for responding to a request, UWG will notify the requester of the estimated costs. For costs in excess of $500, UWG requires prepayment of the costs prior to beginning search, retrieval, review, or production of the records.

^{See detailed procedure, Compliance with Georgia Open Records Act.}