Legal Services
The Legal Services Division is staffed with six full-time employees, including two attorneys (the director and deputy director); an assistant deputy director (ADD); two legal assistants, and a records management technician.
Open Records
The Open Records Unit, which includes archives management, is within Legal Services and functions under the direction of the ADD. The ADD has a legal assistant and a records management technician to assist in the processing of open records and archives requests. Requests pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act have continued to increase, from 2,445 in FY'03 to 2,904 in FY'04. In addition to the requests, the Open Records Unit processed 97 subpoenas, 62 court orders, 105 production of document requests, and orchestrated the release of more than 140 biological specimens.
The Open Records Unit continued to provide training sessions to various criminal justice agencies throughout the state regarding the Open Records Act. More than 900 personnel were trained on this subject throughout the year.
Legal Information
In addition to the open records function, Legal Services provides legal information to the GBI and its employees via training and legal updates. The office conducted 22 training sessions for current agents, new agents and supervisors. During FY'04, seven new civil cases were filed and 22 civil cases were resolved. The office coordinated with the Georgia Attorney General's Office in handling these cases.
The Legal Services Division drafted proposed legislation regarding criminal penalties to individuals who expose children to the harmful elements of the manufacturing of methamphetamine. The bill also increases the penalties when a child suffers physical injury from the exposure.
During the G-8 Summit, Legal Services was responsible for swearing in approximately 1,170 local and state law enforcement officers as temporary special agents. Prior to swearing in these officers, Legal Services prepared a Memorandum of Understanding, Oath of Office, Officer Certification and Certification of Officer forms for use in obtaining needed information from the 99 agencies who assisted during the G-8 Summit. P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standards & Training) records were checked for all officers to ensure compliance with state law training requirements. Upon completion of the Memorandums of Understanding between the agency head and the GBI director, these officers were sworn in by Legal Services at different venues throughout the state of Georgia and even South Carolina . The swearing-in process began in late April and continued right up until two days before the summit began.