ATLANTA --- The public's right to government records could shrink or expand depending on the outcome of five bills vying for approval this session.

Though one measure would allow judges to keep the public from seeing sexually explicit evidence in criminal trials, another would raise the bar legislators must clear to keep records from the public eye. Two weeks ago, contractors' bids and contracts with development authorities -- documents the public has a right to view -- seemed headed toward secrecy under House Bill 1200, sponsored by Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs.

However, the House State Planning and Community Affairs Committee tabled the bill, and a motion to revive it failed this week.

Advocates of public access say Georgia's Open Records Act has gained strength over the past 15 years. But that's not to say practice always follows the intent of the law, said Atlanta-based real estate attorney Matt Mashburn, a frequent user of the act.

Though legislation has sought to aid access, keepers of government records have increasingly taken a broader view of what records are exempt, Mr. Mashburn said.

"They haven't clamped down, but there has been a subtle trend toward expanding these exemptions," he said.

Making it harder to create an exemption is at the heart of Senate Resolution 970, now in the hands of the Senate Ethics Committee.

The resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would require any new exemption to the Open Records Act to get a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate. The measure's sponsor, Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta, said the number of exemptions already in the act leaves it riddled with holes.

For example, records of farm water use are exempt, and they are documents the public or press might want to view in times of water restrictions.

Another public access bill deals with criminal trials.

Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Ellenwood, wants to give judges the right to clear a courtroom when sexually explicit evidence is shown at trial, and to allow judges to determine who has access to that material.

That irks the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

Yet Mr. Jones said the intent of his bill is not to block public access but to prevent a repeat of the Genarlow Wilson case, in which prosecutors released to the media a sex tape used as evidence in the 17-year-old's trial on charges of sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.

The measure also would align Georgia law with federal law, he said.

Hollie Manheimer, the executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, countered that even the federal legislation is embroiled in lawsuits over its First Amendment implications.

Reach Jake Armstrong at (404) 589-8424 or jake.armstrong@morris.com.