ATEHNS, Ga. — The recent Georgia Senate Bill 323 has caused concern for many journalists over the issue of obtaining open records.  Journalists are critical of the bill as it allows up to 90 days after an initial request has been given, making it harder to obtain information.

Representative Earl Ehrhart believes that this will be a benefit to the university athletic programs and said, “It just allows us to play on the same field as Alabama and everybody else.”

The state of Alabama has no specific time frame for when a public officials have to release public records.  We decided to contact the University of Alabama to see if they believed it has helped their athletic programs.

This morning Chris Bryant from the University of Alabama responded to us with this statement.

“The University of Alabama does not view response time for public records requests as a competitive advantage…It is important to note that responding to open records requests is often a labor and time-intensive  process that can require a significant response time, depending on the scope and volume of the records being requested.”