Patrick Camp, For The News-Aegis

Amendments to Alabama’s Open Records Act which went into effect Tuesday, Oct. 1, mean state agencies will have more strict time frames in which they are required to respond to and produce public records requests.

SB 270, sponsored by Alabama Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), codifies existing case law and previous Alabama attorney general opinions and creates a uniform process across all state agencies which largely mirror an executive order issued by Gov. Kay Ivey in early 2023. Ivey’s order was not legally binding and only applied to agencies within the state’s executive branch.

A 2020 study conducted by David Cuillier, a journalism professor with the University of Arizona, ranked Alabama as the worst state for its public records compliance. Cullier compiled more than 7,000 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia using data from Muckrock — a nonprofit used by reporters and others to assist with public records requests. Idaho ranked the highest with a 67 percent compliance rate and an average 15 day turnaround to produce records. Alabama produced 10 percent of the requested records with a 76 day turnaround time.

Orr’s amendments aims to increase response times while accounting for the pressures smaller agencies face when fulfilling records requests by dividing them into two distinct categories. A standard request, which is defined as one which can be processed in less than eight hours of staff time, and a time-intensive request, which is likely to take more than eight hours to process.

Under the new law, public officers must acknowledge it has received a request within 10 days and will have 15 business days from the acknowledgement to either fulfill or deny a standard request or to inform the requester if a request is considered time-intensive. This 15-day window can be incrementally increased upon written notice to the requester.

Standard requests are to be considered denied if a standard request has not been responded to within 30 business days or 60 calendar days.

If a request is determined to be time-intensive, officers must provide the requester with an estimate of “reasonable fees” expected to fulfill the request and offer an opportunity to withdraw. These fees can include partial payments for costs associated with document searches.

Time intensive requests must be responded to within 45 days. This deadline my also be incrementally increased and is to be considered denied if records are not produced with 180 business days or 270 calendar days.

The law does not include a cap on fees or define a specific rate structure. Instead it relies on existing case law and attorney general opinions to determine what is “reasonable.”

The law also allows public officers to adopt written procedures, including specific request forms, requesters must follow in order to submit requests. It does not include an appeals process in the event a request is denied other than filing a lawsuit against the denying agency.

Patrick Camp can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238