Ex-press secretary for fmr ATL Mayor Kasim Reed Charged with Open Records Act Violations

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Jenna Garland, 34, the press secretary during Reed’s second term, is accused of ordering a subordinate in the city’s watershed department in March 2017 to delay handing over public records that contained information damaging to Reed and other city officials. The records were requested by Channel 2 Action News.

Last year, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal investigation involving potential violations of Georgia's open records law by the Reed administration, including actions by press secretary Jenna Garland.
Former Reed official charged with violating open records law

The press secretary for former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has been cited for allegedly violating the Georgia Open Records Act in the first-ever criminal complaint filed in connection with the law, the state attorney general’s office announced Monday.

Jenna Garland, 34, the press secretary during Reed’s second term, is accused of ordering a subordinate in the city’s watershed department in March 2017 to delay handing over public records that contained information damaging to Reed and other city officials. The records were requested by Channel 2 Action News.

The two citations carry light punishment if Garland is convicted. Criminal violations of the law are misdemeanors punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and a year in jail, but jail time is unlikely. Still the complaints carry symbolic weight.

It’s rare for a public official — in Georgia or elsewhere — to face criminal consequences for obstructing the public’s right to know. The charges could serve as a jolt to cities, counties and state agencies that don’t comply with the law, experts said.

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