According to Governor Nathan Deal’s office, Governor Deal has signed Senate Bill 323. The bill now allows Georgia state college and universities to delay requests regarding Open Record Requests.

The law now extends the deadline for ‘responses to requests regarding certain records relating to intercollegiate sports programs’. The deadline is now extended from three days to ninety days.

“The amendment to this bill – at the eleventh hour of the legislative session – is an affront to the purpose of Georgia’s open records act, and all citizens should be disturbed,” said Hollie Manheimer, the executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. “The amendment bars citizen access to the records of the University System athletic departments for 90 days. The amendment is so broadly written, it makes secret contract terms, letters of complaint or inquiry from the NCAA, plans for the expenditure of university and athletic association funds, and even more.  No other public agency in Georgia is given 90 days to conduct its business in secret.”