The case: the City of Brookhaven’s price for my open records requests, and what it did next.
| Price the City wrote for one request (March 2, 2026) | $49,385 |
| 950 hours at $51.98 an hour | $49,381.00 |
| 31 fee demands, totaled (as of March 5, 2026) | $58,603.85 |
| Requests then marked complete with the stated ground “lack of approval of provided estimate” | 20 |
| Time from the first notice to the last, as they arrived | 5 minutes 38 seconds (1:01:34 PM to 1:07:12 PM EDT, March 9, 2026) |
Answer
On March 2, 2026, the City of Brookhaven priced one of my open records requests at “950 hours at $51.98 per hour, total cost: $49,385.” 950 hours at $51.98 an hour is $49,381.00. The City’s fee demands across my requests add to $58,603.85. On March 9, 2026, the City marked 20 of my requests complete in 5 minutes 38 seconds. Every notice gave the same ground: “lack of approval of provided estimate.”
Georgia law caps the rate at the hourly salary of the lowest paid full time employee who can do the work. The City of Brookhaven used $51.98 an hour, for 950 hours, and has not said whose job that rate came from.
The price
1. On March 2, 2026, at 10:07 AM ET, the City of Brookhaven’s records portal wrote that one of my open records requests would take “an estimated 950 hours at $51.98 per hour, total cost: $49,385.” It set a $500 deposit. [March 2 City email]
2. 950 hours at $51.98 an hour is $49,381.00. The City wrote $49,385. [March 2 City email]
3. As of March 5, 2026, the City’s 31 fee demands across my requests add to $58,603.85. [City fee notices, totaled]
What happened next
4. On March 9, 2026, 20 Request Marked Complete notices arrived in my mailbox between 1:01:34 PM and 1:07:12 PM EDT, one for each of 20 of my open records requests. Every notice reads: “has been marked complete due to lack of approval of provided estimate.” Every notice is signed “Office of the City Clerk, City of Brookhaven”. [March 9 Request Marked Complete notices]
Side by side: the statute and the bill
| O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71, in its own words | The City of Brookhaven, in its own words and numbers |
|---|---|
| “no charge shall be made for the first quarter hour” (subsection (c)(1)) | $49,385 for one request |
| The hourly rate “shall not exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee who, in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the request.” (subsection (c)(1)) | “950 hours at $51.98 per hour” (March 2, 2026) |
| The agency “may insist on prepayment of the costs prior to beginning search, retrieval, review, or production of the records.” (subsection (d)) | $58,603.85 across 31 fee demands |
Open question
Which employee’s position did the City use for the $51.98 hourly rate? Asked on March 5, 2026; unanswered as of October 17, 2026.
Related
- Office of the City Clerk, City of Brookhaven, March 9, 2026: 20 requests closed
- What Georgia cities may charge for open records
- When a records request is priced out of reach
- City of Brookhaven record
Corrections
ADA Matters welcomes documented corrections. Write to info@adamatters.com with the correct fact and its source.