Athens Newspapers LLC v. Unified Gov't of Athens-Clarke County

The police records on an unsolved 1992 rape and murder of a University of Georgia student did not fall under the pending investigation exemption to the Open Records Act-O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 a 4-since the evidence showed that there has been no progress in solving the case for several years, the county has no ongoing, active investigation of the case, there are no suspects and it is only slightly possible that DNA evidence will ever result in progress in solving the case.

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Athens Newspapers, L.L.C., filed suit against the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County hereinafter, “the county”, claiming the county violated the Open Records Act1 when it refused to provide the newspaper access to police records on an unsolved 1992 rape and murder. The newspaper asked the court to enjoin the county from violating the Act and to compel the county to disclose the records. The newspaper appeals from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the county, contending the court erred in concluding as a matter of law that the records were exempt from disclosure under the Open Records Act and in finding that the undisputed evidence showed the county did not violate the time requirements of the Act. For the following reasons, we reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand this case to the court with direction to grant summary judgment in favor of the newspaper. Under the Open Records Act, all public records of government agencies, except those which by order of a court of this state or by law are prohibited or specifically exempted from being open to inspection by the general public, shall be open for a personal inspection by any citizen of this state at a reasonable time and place; and those in charge of such records shall not refuse this privilege to any citizen. OCGA § 50-18-70 b. The parties do not dispute that the records at issue in this case are public records within the meaning of the Open Records Act.

The record shows the following undisputed facts. In April 1992, a University of Georgia student, Jennifer Stone, was raped and murdered in her Athens apartment. No one has been arrested in the Stone case, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department has not identified a possible perpetrator, and investigators have not discovered any new evidence in several years. Even though the case remains unsolved, however, the Stone homicide had never been listed on the “unsolved crimes” section of the county’s official website.

Athens Newspapers LLC v. Unified Gov't of Athens-Clarke County

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