In accordance with Section 36-12-40 of the Code of Alabama, the Baldwin County Public School System (the “District”) seeks to provide Alabama citizens with access to public records upon request, subject to exceptions provided by applicable law. Please note, however, that not all "public records" are covered by this law.    For example:

"records concerning security plans, procedures, assessments, measures, or systems, and any other records relating to, or having an impact upon, the security or safety of persons, structures, facilities, or other infrastructures, including without limitation information concerning critical infrastructure (as defined at 42 U.S.C. §5195c(e) as amended) and critical energy infrastructure information (as defined at 18 C.F.R. §388.113(c)(1) as amended) the public disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to be detrimental to the public safety or welfare, and records the disclosure of which would otherwise be detrimental to the best interests of the public shall be exempted from this section."

Submitting a public-records request

To submit an open records request to the District, email a completed public-records request form, and any necessary attachments to openrecords@bcbe.org

What to expect

The Baldwin County Public School System will acknowledge any proper request within ten (10) business days of receipt.  Upon receipt, all requests will be classified as one of the following:

Standard Request: A request that seeks one or more specifically and discretely identified public records that the District determines will take less than eight (8) hours of staff time to process (e.g., identify, retrieve, and redact records).

Time-Intensive Request: A request that the District determines would take more than eight (8) hours of staff time to process (e.g., identify, retrieve, and redact records).

The District may require payment of a reasonable fee for any open records request, which must be received by the District prior to the release of the requested records. Payment must be made by check payable to the “Baldwin County Board of Education” and should be directed to:

Baldwin County Public School System General Counsel’s Office

Attn: Open Records

2600 North Hand Avenue

Bay Minette, Alabama 36507

Please include reference to your specific open records request so that the payment can be identified as associated with your pending open records request. Failure to do so may result in additional delay.

The District will provide a substantive response to your request within fifteen (15) business days of acknowledging receipt of a Standard Request and within forty-five (45) business days of acknowledging receipt of a Time-Intensive Request. In the District’s sole discretion, a substantive response may be delayed an additional fifteen (15) or forty-five (45) day increments, respectively, upon written notice to you.

Schedule of Fees for Copies:

The cost for standard reproductions of paper documents is outlined in the below fee schedule. Please note, even if requested documents are currently available in electronic form, if reproduction of a document into paper form is required in order to provide an electronic or paper copy, the cost for standard reproduction of the document will be assessed as outlined below.  An administrative fee that covers research, preparation, and/or recovery costs may also be assessed for each request. The total cost may vary greatly depending on the type of request that is being made. The requestor will be provided with an estimated cost for reproduction and fees prior to the fulfillment of the request. Payment must be provided before documents will be made available.  Note: No work will be done to fulfill your request until the payment is received.  If records are mailed to the requestor, the requestor will also be assessed the estimated cost of postage as part reasonable fee.

General Copies

Administrative Costs for Time Intensive Copies or Time Intensive Retrieval of Requested Information

Questions?

You may contact our public records officer at openrecords@bcbe.org