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In 2004, the Public Records Law was amended to include the following language:

[R]ecords 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. §  388.11(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. Any public officer who receives a request for records that may appear to relate to critical infrastructure or critical energy infrastructure information, shall notify the owner of such infrastructure in writing of the request and provide the owner an opportunity to comment on the request and on the threats to public safety or welfare that could reasonably be expected from public disclosure of the records.

Ala. Code § 36-12-40 (Supp. 2005).

In Birmingham News Co. v. Peevey, 21 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2125 (Cir. Ct. of Montgomery Co., Ala., July 22, 1993), the trial court ordered the Department of Motor Vehicles to produce motor vehicle records in computer form, as requested — and as generated by the Department for its own use. The trial court quoted with approval an Ohio Supreme Court opinion, as follows:

"[M]embers of the public should not be required 'to exhaust their energy and ingenuity to gather information which is already compiled and organized in a document created by public officials at public expense.' Similarly, a public agency should not be permitted to require the public to exhaust massive amounts of time and resources in order to replicate the value added to the public records through the creation and storage on tape of a data base containing such records."

Id. at 2126 (quoting Ohio ex rel. Margolius v. Cleveland, 19 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2122, 2124 (Ohio S. Ct. 1992) (effective Sept. 13, 1997, access to MVRs is governed by 18 U.S.C. §  2721).

The Alabama Attorney General has declared, however, that

[i]t is not [a public agency's] responsibility or duty to provide the information to [the requester] in a particular form nor must [the agency] necessarily compile or assimilate the information for the public. Your responsibility is to provide reasonable access to the information and for the information to be a reasonable form (e.g. legible copies if possible or in regular language rather than a code form a person outside the office would not be familiar with).

Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 88-00079 at 5 (Dec. 16, 1987) (diskette of personnel data requested; the requested data need not be provided in that particular form); see also Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2007-001, 2006 Ala. AG LEXIS 119 (Oct. 2, 2006) (“Because a state agency may regulate the manner in which public records are produced, inspected, and copied, a state agency . . . is not required to distribute public records in the manner that a requestor specifies.”)

This question has not been addressed by legislative or judicial action in Alabama, except by implication in one set of statutes and one rule of judicial administration. In 1991, the Alabama Legislature established the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center ("ACJIC") and mandated that a number of categories of information be sent to the Center by state and local law enforcement agencies for storage in the Center's computer database. Most of the categories of information are public records at the originating agencies, but the ACJIC Act bars public access to its computerized information except on a "need to know" and "right to know" basis. Arguably, the Legislature deems the compilation of that data in computer form to be more invasive of privacy rights than the ungathered data. See Ala. Code §§ 41-9-620 et seq. (2000). See also Ala. Code § 41-9-594 (2000) (ACJIC commission shall appoint a privacy and security committee); Ala. Code § 41-9-636 (2000) ("Provision of information [by ACJIC] shall be limited by . . . the right of privacy . . . ."); Ala. Code § 41-9-642 (2000) (ACJIC legislation gives no authority to "invade the privacy of any citizen").

Rule 33 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration provides the following criteria for evaluating requests for computer-based information that is maintained by the Administrative Office of Courts ("AOC") regarding court cases in Alabama: (1) Availability of data; (2) Specificity of request; (3) Potential for infringement of personal privacy created by release of the information requested; (4) Potential for abuse or misinterpretation of the information requested as it related to its intended use; and (5) Potential disruption to the internal, ongoing business of the courts.

Since most of the information maintained by the AOC was public record information in the courts throughout the state, this rule has the potential to make some public record information inaccessible when it is gathered in computer form.

The Alabama Attorney General has stated that a state agency is not required to produce information electronically that is already available in paper format.  See Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2007-001, 2006 Ala. AG LEXIS 119 (Oct. 2, 2006).

The Supreme Court of Alabama has treated email as public records subject to the Public Records Law. See Tenn. Valley Printing Co. v. Health Care Auth. of Lauderdale County, 2010 ALA. LEXIS 213 (Ala. Oct. 29, 2010) (holding that emails between public employees regarding the sale of public assets was subject to disclosure under the Public Records Law).

Request for emails must be made to the proper custodian of public records, and computer service employees may not be the proper person to provide emails if they are not the custodian of the public records requested. George v. Gassock, CV 07-40 (Cir. Ct. of Morgan County, Ala. June 12, 2007).