Former Kasim Reed Aide Charged With Open Records Violations

ATLANTA -- Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has announced two citations have been filed in Fulton County State Court following an investigation into violations of the Georgia Open Records Act committed by former city of Atlanta employee, Jenna Garland.

The citations filed relate to two violations of the Open Records Act. The first citation states that the Department of Watershed Management received an open records request for billing, payment and usage records from WSB-TV for a specific address on March 7, 2017. The citation alleges that Garland instructed the director of communications for the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management to “[d]rag this out as long as possible [a]nd provide information in the most confusing format available.”

The second citation states that the Department of Watershed Management received another open records request from WSB-TV on March 21, 2017 for certain billing records. The citation alleges that several days later on April 21, 2017, Garland instructed the department's director of communications to “[h]old all” documents responsive to the request until the requestor asked for an update.

This case first came to the attention of the Office of the Attorney General following a news story, which aired on WSB-TV on March 8, 2018. The story alleged open records violations by Garland, then-mayoral press secretary, potentially others. The Attorney General's office requested the GBI open an investigation on March 12, 2018, and these citations are the product of that investigation.

Georgia’s Open Records Act provides that it is a misdemeanor to knowingly and willingly attempt to frustrate access to records that are not subject to exemption by intentionally making such records difficult to obtain or review. It further states that any prosecution under this code section may only be commenced by issuance of a citation. The Attorney General has authority to prosecute this matter and will be filing an accusation in Fulton County State Court for the conduct alleged in the citations.

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NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Atlanta, Georgia Mayor Kasim Reed speaks at a press conference after attending New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Mayor's summit on immigration reform on December 8, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)