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Instant Checkmate
Criminal-record and social-profile search option.
View Records Sponsored partner optionWhat should you know about this search?
Direct answer
For Georgia public records, identify the government agency that maintains the existing record and direct a clear written request to its custodian. Treat the response timing as a process rule, preserve any written status or exemption explanation, and never turn one agency’s result into a statewide conclusion.
Georgia makes the custodian decision part of the search itself
The Georgia Attorney General directs requesters to the government agency custodian of the records sought. That means a statewide topic can still require several independent searches when different agencies perform different functions. Before writing anything, map the event to the public office that would create or maintain the relevant file.
A written request is especially useful when the project needs an audit trail. It captures the exact record description and timing, which matters if the office seeks clarification, identifies a different custodian, estimates costs, withholds part of a record, or says the material does not exist.
Frame the request around records that should already exist
Good target
A named contract, correspondence set, inspection file, report or data field
These are identifiable existing materials an agency can search for.
Weak target
“Tell me everything about this person”
That wording asks the office to conduct research rather than retrieve a defined record.
Cross-agency issue
The same event touched two government bodies
Send separate, appropriately scoped requests and preserve the different source boundaries.
Use Georgia’s response framework without overstating what the clock means
1
Record the date the custodian receives the requestThe timing analysis is meaningful only when the receiving agency and receipt point are known.2
Watch for production or written status informationIf responsive records cannot be produced in the standard window, the agency’s written response should explain the next step required by the process.3
Do not equate delay with a statewide absenceA timing issue at one custodian says nothing about records held by another agency.4
Keep exemptions and redactions source-specificA partial production should remain tied to the legal and factual scope of the office that processed it.A Georgia search file should distinguish request scope from result scope
| What you know | Best next action | How to label the outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Agency and record type are known | Send a written request to that custodian | Agency-specific production or denial |
| Topic is known but custodian is uncertain | Identify which public body performs the function | Routing research; not yet a records search |
| Several agencies may hold different pieces | Create separate requests | Multi-source file with independent provenance |