The Augusta Chronicle and other local media will present a workshop on Open Government at 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 21, in the auditorium of the Richmond County Board of Education building, 864 Broad St.

The forum is designed to help the public as well county and state employees understand Georgia’s Sunshine Laws – the Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act.

"Georgia's open records and meetings laws are the tools by which citizens can monitor their government," said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, an organization that advances the cause of open government through advocacy and education. “The open government laws allow us to see and hear what our elected officials are doing, and what government business is taking place. The more informed we as citizens are, the stronger our communities are."

The workshop will be led by attorney David Hudson, general counsel for the Georgia Press Association, and Pete Fletcher, attorney for the Richmond County Board of Education – the host of the workshop.

The Chronicle’s media partners in presenting the forum are The Metro Courier, Metro Spirit and Columbia County News-Times newspapers; television stations WRDW, WAGT, and WJBF; radio station WGAC, and WKZK talk show host Helen Blocker Adams.

The Georgia Press Association and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation are sponsors.

For more information about the workshop and Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, see Friday’s editions of The Chronicle.