In this declaratory action, we are asked to determine whether a campus police force exercising the police power of the State of Georgia by express legislative grant on a private university campus is subject to the Georgia Open Records Act1 to the same extent as other police forces in Georgia. We hold that, under the circumstances of this case, documents received and maintained by the campus police force at issue are not subject to the Open Records Act. We, therefore, reverse the trial court’s order holding that the documents are subject to the Open Records Act. Many of the material facts of this case are not in dispute. Mercer University is a nonprofit corporation which operates a university in Bibb County, Georgia. Mercer University is not a government agency. Mercer University has voluntarily elected, under specific authority granted to colleges and universities in Georgia by the General Assembly, to establish its own campus police force known as the Mercer University Police Department “MUPD”.2 In the course of exercising its powers, the MUPD generates and maintains records, including incident reports and crime logs.
Barrett & Farahany, a law firm in Atlanta, represents “Jane Doe,” a former Mercer University student, in a lawsuit against Mercer University, in which Doe claims that Mercer University is responsible for an alleged assault perpetrated by a person known by Doe. When Mercer University objected to the production of certain documents regarding victims of sexual assaults, Barrett & Farahany brought this action for declaratory and injunctive relief against Mercer University, seeking access to police records maintained and generated by the MUPD in connection with rapes and sexual assaults that occurred on Mercer University’s campus. At issue is whether certain records maintained or generated in the operation of the MUPD are public records subject to disclosure under the Open Records Act.
