Quiz: How well do you know Georgia’s Open Records Act?

Want to see a county contract or find out what your city spent on a project? Test your knowledge of Georgia’s Open Records Act. Looking up the answers is encouraged.

The Cobb County Courier Quiz is a regular feature designed to help readers learn more about Cobb County — its history, local government, businesses, and the issues shaping daily life here.

Readers who subscribe to the Courier’s email newsletter receive a link to the daily quiz, delivered straight to their inbox along with the day’s top local headlines. 

This quiz is meant to be fun and educational. Looking up answers online or in other sources is encouraged, not discouraged. If you already know the answers, great. If you don’t, that’s the point — the quiz is designed to spark curiosity and help readers better understand the county where they live. Links to source material and background information are provided below each quiz so readers can learn more.

If you’d like the quiz every day, you can subscribe to the Cobb County Courier newsletter using the link below. It’s free and includes a roundup of the latest local news, plus a link to the daily quiz.

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Have fun!

1.

Who can use Georgia’s Open Records Act to ask for a copy of a Cobb County contract?

Only Cobb County residents

Only journalists and attorneys

Any member of the public

Only people who can show the contract affects them directly

2.

Mableton has the records you requested, but it can’t provide them within three business days. What must the city do within those three business days?

Describe the available records and give you a timetable for access

Send you every requested record, even if review is still underway

Ask you to submit the request again

Wait until the records are ready to respond

3.

A county employee spends 10 minutes searching for records you requested. How much can the county charge for that search time?

Ten minutes at the employee’s hourly rate

A flat fee set by the county

One hour at the lowest qualified employee’s rate

Nothing

4.

A county record contains a Social Security number, but the rest of the record is open to the public. What should the county do?

Withhold the entire record

Black out the Social Security number and release the rest

Release the entire record with a privacy warning

Release the record only if the person gives permission

5.

You ask a city to write a new report explaining why a project went over budget. The report doesn’t exist. What does the Open Records Act require?

The city must write the report within three business days

The city must write the report if you agree to pay for staff time

The city can decline to write the report. You can request existing records about the project

The city must write the report if the project used public funds

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Quiz Answer Links

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Editor’s note: AI was used in the production of this article. To read about when and why we made use of AI, read our article “How, When and Why the Cobb County Courier uses AI.”