No right to know on city drug tests - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

No right to know on city drug tests

  • More WALB News10 HeadlinesMore News Headlines

  • Saturday, May 25 2013 7:30 AM EDT2013-05-25 11:30:07 GMT
    Albany Engineer K. Bruce Maples, P. E. announced some road closures Thursday morning. Beginning at 6:00 A.M., Saturday, May 25, 2013, the following streets will be closed for the Spring Fest and SB
    Albany Engineer K. Bruce Maples, announced some road closures beginning at 6:00 A.M., Saturday, May 25, 2013, in downtown Albany.
  • Friday, May 24 2013 10:55 PM EDT2013-05-25 02:55:46 GMT
    Not going out of town for Memorial Day? Don't worry, the Albany Panthers want to make sure you have a good weekend as they host their first ever beer fest. You can sample more than 20 types of beer Saturday
    Not going out of town for Memorial Day? Don't worry, the Albany Panthers want to make sure you have a good weekend as they host their first ever beer fest.
  • Friday, May 24 2013 10:50 PM EDT2013-05-25 02:50:57 GMT
    The family of a Miller County woman is mourning tonight after GBI investigators say the 58 year old was murdered by her husband, before he took his own life. Now the family of Barbara Bass is speaking
    The family of a Miller County woman is mourning tonight after GBI investigators say the 58 year old was murdered by her husband, before he took his own life.

April 5, 2006

Albany -- A new drug policy allows the city of Albany to test all its employees, but city leaders don't want you to know if those tests show a police officer or someone driving a garbage truck is on drugs.

Seventeen employees were picked for the first round of testing, but that's the only information the city will release. They won't tell us whether anyone tested positive because they say the results are covered under laws that keep medical records confidential.

City officials say we should trust them to take proper action against any employee who violates the policy.

"These test results themselves are medical records and so the actual test results, we are not allowed to release," said city attorney Nathan Davis.

"If somebody is tested positive then we are going to take the appropriate personal actions, and that could be anything from suspensions and or terminations," said city manager Alfred Lott.

WALB got a legal opinion today from a lawyer who says some information about the drug screening falls under open records laws and should be released.

Feedback: news@walb.com?subject=CityDrugTests