A Fulton County Superior Court judge ruled that the Atlanta Police Foundation must make documents related to construction of the city’s public safety training center public under the Open Records Act.
The question of whether the influential nonprofit is subject to Georgia’s Open Records laws was a flashpoint during debate over the 85-acre facility, as opponents demanded more transparency with the project. The city of Atlanta leased the land to the foundation for the facility, and the foundation oversaw construction.
A lawsuit filed by the Atlanta Community Press Collective and Chicago-based research group Lucy Parsons Labs said the police foundation failed to produce records related to the project that were requested by journalists.
On Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane C. Barwick found that the foundation is on the hook for documents responsive to the requests. She ordered all documents related to the massive project be handed over within 30 days.
“There were 15 requests for records made between the two plaintiffs during the 2023 time frame,” Barwick wrote in the 12-page order. “There was no response by APF. None.
“This court concludes that APF was under duty to provide records to ACPC and Lucy Parsons Lab pursuant to the Open Records Act.”
Last year, the Georgia Supreme Court also ruled that Georgians have the right to obtain public records directly from private organizations with government contracts.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
According to the lawsuit, the Atlanta Community Press Collective submitted numerous records requests to the foundation that ranged from construction budget details to meeting minutes from their regular board meetings.
Lucy Parsons Labs also submitted a plethora of requests that ranged from documents related to environmental testing and business contracts to emails between APF President and CEO Dave Wilkinson and Robin Loudermilk, chairman of the organization’s executive committee.
All those records are ordered released in accordance with the ruling.
However, the narrow ruling only made a decision as to whether the police foundation is required to release records as it pertained to requests referenced in the lawsuit. It did not determine whether the foundation is a public entity or what scenarios under the Open Records Act its required to fulfill requests.
Atlanta Police Foundation President and CEO Dave Wilkinson testified during the case that he did not believe the foundation was subject to the open records law and that documents handed over to other news organizations were voluntary.
Barwick did weigh in on the foundation’s decision to pick who it would respond to.
“Let the record also be clear that the identity of the requester does not determine whether records are characterized as public,” the judge wrote.
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