Open Records Requests

Habersham County residents have a statutory right to inspect a vast number of Georgia's public records using the state's Open Records Act (OPA). Under this law, you can inspect the public records of all county and municipal government entities as well as state departments, agencies, boards, bureaus, commissions and authorities and regional authorities.  The OPA also covers private entities performing a service for a public agency, as well as nonprofit organizations that receive more than one-third of their funding from tax funds.

You have the right to inspect all public records of the government bodies subject to the OPA. The term "public records" is broadly defined to include all written documents, maps, books, tapes, photographs and electronic information, prepared and maintained or received in the course of the operation of a government body.

Please note that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies only to federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies.  The FOIA does not require agencies, outside of federal agencies, to do research for you, answer written questions, or in any other way create records in order to respond to a request.  Habersham County is only responsible for providing documents that are eligible to be released to the public pursuant to OCGA 50-18-71.

NOTICE: Certain records, and information contained in records, are exempt from disclosure by law. You will be notified within three business days if the record requested is indeed a public record available for inspection, and you will be notified as to when the record will be available. There is a 10 cents per page charge for each page of our records you request to have copied. In addition, you may also be charged a fee for record retrieval with the first 15 minutes being free. Regular business hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. excluding holidays.

NOTICE: Due to an increasing number of malicious emails and attachments, we ask that you provide your name, contact information, and a brief summary of what you are requesting in the body of emails when submitting Open Records Request forms to any records officer of Habersham County.  Emails that do not provide enough information, or that are suspect of being malicious will not be responded to and will be reported to the Habersham County IT Department.

Requests for Records from the Habersham County Board of Commissioners

Habersham County will work diligently in fulfilling your request for documents in accordance with the Open Records Act. As authorized by O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-71(b)(2), the Habersham County Board of Commissioners has designated an Open Records Officer. Official requests for Habersham County Board of Commissioners records under the Open Records Act must be made directly to the Open Records Officer. 

Please note that the Records Officer is the Open Records Officer only for the Habersham County Board of Commissioners, which excludes the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office and any other elected official’s office such as the Clerk of Court, Judges, and Tax Commissioner. It also excludes independent authorities such as the Habersham County Hospital Authority. 

Open Records Request Form

Once completed, the Open Records Request Form may be emailed to orr@huntandtaylor.com. You can also mail the form to:

Requests for Records from the Habersham County Sheriff's Office

Habersham County Sheriff's Office Records Division

The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office will work diligently in fulfilling your request for documents in accordance with the Open Records Act. As authorized by O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-71(b)(2), the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office has designated an Open Records Officer. Official requests for records under the Open Records Act must be made directly to the Open Records Officer, Kelly Duncan. Official Open Record requests for records from the Sheriff's Department, including arrest reports, incident or accident reports, etc. may be emailed to the Open Records Officer at so_records@habershamga.com. Mrs. Duncan can also be reached by phone at 706-839-0519.

Requests for Records from Habersham County E-911

Habersham County E-911 Request Form

To place a request for documents/tapes maintained by the Habersham County E-911 Department, please download and complete the form above and send it to:

Habersham County E-911
175 EOC Dr
Mt. Airy, GA  30563
Phone:  706-778-3911 (non-emergency)
Fax:  706-776-1066
or you can email the form to mbellinger@habershamga.com