Floyd County has received 289 open record requests this year
As the year begins to wrap up, Floyd County has received a massive number of open records requests, most of which are related to the 2020 election.
County Attorney Virginia Harman said there have been 289 open records requests this year. While some counties have a department or staff specifically dedicated to open records requests, in Floyd County they’re mainly handled by Harman, her staff and the county clerk’s office.
“We try to coordinate and respond within the time allowed by law,” Harman said during Floyd County Commission caucus Tuesday.
Once a request is filed, the government agency has three business days to either respond or send the requested documents. Some open records requests take only a few hours while others can take days or weeks to fulfill, Harman said.
For those cases that take more research, state law allows the requester to be charged for the time a county employee spends on gathering the information.
In the last year, the county has fielded numerous election-related requests from people and organizations across the country.
Harman reported that on Tuesday alone, she received eight requests. In the last week, she has received 18 to 20 requests.
County Clerk Erin Elrod agreed with Harman on the exponential increase of requests, describing it as “bizarre” and calling other years’ numbers “minuscule.”
Other than electionrelated requests, the county has received requests for a wide variety of reasons, such as attorneys requesting information related to a civil or criminal case. Other requests include people gathering data for studies or surveys.
“Probably every department in the county receives one open records request a year,” Harman said.
Still, the attorney has been trying to keep the county’s responses as thorough and transparent as possible.
“Open records is something that every single one of us believes is an integral part of government, particularly local government,” Harman said.