About every two weeks, The Current GA files a Georgia Open Records Act request for the Georgia governor’s official calendar.
We request these calendars to understand who Gov. Brian Kemp meets, who visits his office, where he travels in Georgia and across the nation and what he does on state-sponsored trips abroad. Public officials’ calendars are a routine request from journalists. The White House publishes some public schedules ahead of time (with key logistical details sometimes kept confidential for security reasons).
We’re posting the files here so you can see what types of meetings your elected governor takes and makes, as well as his events and travel. Copies of the schedules often contain redactions of cell phone numbers or personal appointments, as allowed by law. A calendar does not show all of the governor’s activities.
The Current‘s reporting depends on many kinds of documents that we get through open records requests. Margaret Coker learned that Georgia’s Medicaid policy experiment with work requirements has cost taxpayers more than $86 million through a review of thousands of pages of invoices sent by Georgia to the federal government. and a review of state contracts. Jake Shore used hundreds of pages of state documents and emails to expose how Georgia’s child welfare agency learned of issues with its contracted drug testing lab — results of which are crucial to child custody decisions — yet did not act for more than a year.
Anyone can make an open record request, not just reporters. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation has a guide to get you started.
Check out some of The Current‘s other document directories, including board documents from the Savannah Economic Development Authority and the Georgia Ports Authority. Both are built from documents obtained via regular open record requests.