Two former Georgia Attorneys General, both known for advocating for the right to access public records, have been hired to represent the City of Atlanta in civil and criminal cases involving alleged violations of the Georgia Open Records Act.
One of them, Sam Olens, a Republican, revamped the open records law in 2012, making penalties for noncompliance more severe.
The other, former attorney general Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, successfully sued two local civic groups over records involving the city’s bids for the 2009 Super Bowl and the Nascar Hall of Fame.
Both work for the Dentons law firm and are winners of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s Weltner Award, which honors a person or group who worked to significantly improve freedom of information in Georgia.
Together, they have been tasked with representing the city in a criminal investigation into how city employees responded to open records requests and a complaint filed by the AJC and Channel 2 Action News with Attorney General Chris Carr alleging systemic open records violations. Read more…