Battles for access to campus crime records in Georgia are being waged on two fronts. Proposed Senate Bill 153 would redefine the Georgia Open Records Act to include police records at private schools, while a case involving Mercer University may progress to the Georgia Supreme Court and set a legal precedent for crime records disclosure.
The state Open Records Act defines materials subject to disclosure as "all documents prepared and maintained in the course of operation of a public office or agency" or documents received "on behalf of a public office or agency." A state trial court ruled that private Mercer University had to turn over the records of its campus police department--which operates with official law enforcement authority--under the Open Records Act.