What are the criminal consequences of intentionally obstructing access to public records?
A press aide for former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed may soon find out.
Jenna Garland faces a September trial in the first ever criminal case arising from violations of the Georgia open records law.
Criminal sanctions were added to Georgia's law in 2012.
Garland has pleaded not guilty and today rejected a plea deal. She reasserted her innocence notwithstanding the existence of text messages in which she instructed a subordinate to "drag this [responding to records requests] out," "be as unhelpful as possible," and "provide the information in the most confusing format possible."
The records — which were requested by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and a local news channel — related to nonpayment of water bills by the mayor, his brother, and other officials.
The article linked below suggests that Garland may be fined up to $2,500 for two offenses but is unlikely to face jail time. The article gives no indication why jail time is unlikely.
On May 15, the Kentucky Open Government Coalition reported on this story.
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/447719215774806?s=184659…
We noted that a 2017 audit of the University of Louisville Foundation disclosed very similar efforts to obstruct access to records relating to, among other things, inflated retirement benefits for the highest ranking university officials including the university's former president.
With respect to many state and local agencies, this approach seems to be the rule rather than the exception.
We also pointed out that criminal penalties have existed in Kentucky's open records law since the law was enacted in 1976.
KRS 61.991(2)(a) penalizes willful concealment or destruction of public records as a Class A misdemeanor. Additional penalties for intentionally destroying, mutilating, concealing, removing, or impairing the availability of public records are found at KRS 519.060(1)(b), tampering with a public record. That offense is a Class D felony.
Although courts are increasingly inclined to award civil penalties of up to $25 a day for each day a record is willfully withheld, as well as attorneys' fees, to the best of our knowledge the criminal penalties in the open records law have never been imposed.
But as a Georgia open government legal scholar noted, the criminal case against the mayor's former press aide "carries symbolic weight and should be an example used to dissuade other government officials from violating the law."
