Republican state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would permit government officials to require requests for public records be made in writing.

Oral requests now are permitted under Georgia's Open Records Act. Critics say House Bill 283 would put up a new hurdle between the public and government records.

Rep. Mark Hatfield (R-Waycross), the bill's lead sponsor, said the legislation would make the process fair for government officials who could face prosecution for inadvertently failing to comply with the law.

"If you are going to hold somebody criminally accountable for responding accurately to the request and timely to the request," Hatfield said, "then they should at the very minimum have a request that gives them a detailed listing of what is being sought."

"It gives us a verifiable record of what was requested, what the demand was, and what the response was," Hatfield continued. "I think it really serves the purpose of protecting both sides."

The bill was read for the first time on the House floor Thursday. Hatfield introduced a similar bill last year, but it died in the House. Hatfield's co-sponsors include Rep. Steve Tumlin (R-Marietta) and Rep. Roger Lane (R-Darien).

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation opposes the legislation.

"The Open Records Act is designed to protect the public and its access to records," said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the foundation. "By allowing public agencies to require that records requests be in writing creates yet another obstacle to public access."

"Access to public documents — a cornerstone of our democratic society — should be simple and free of impediments," Manheimer continued. "Requiring individuals to write out their records requests — for records that are the citizen's, not the records custodian's — creates a bar to public access and is completely antithetical to the public's interest."

Manheimer said only three or four officials have been convicted of violating the Open Records Act in the many years the law has been on the books.

The legislation requires government officials to make forms available for people to submit their requests in writing. People also would be permitted to make requests without the forms in person or by mail, e-mail or fax.

Asked how the bill would apply to illiterate people, Hatfield referred to a provision in the legislation that says government officials "shall make a reasonable effort to assist a person making a request for records, as needed."

The legislation does not apply to government meeting agendas and minutes, which still would be subject to oral requests. Hatfield said he introduced the bill at the request of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

"Sometimes people make oral requests and you want to make sure that you are capturing the essence of what it is they are trying to get at," said Kem Kimbrough, the association's assistant general counsel.

"We definitely are not trying to impede or impair the public's access to their documents. That is the whole point behind the Open Records Act and we are not trying to change that."

Reprinted with permission from The Atlanta Journal Constitution.