Kia Motors and Georgia’s Technical College System operated a Quick Start training program for workers at Kia’s West Point manufacturing facility. Several individuals requested records about Kia’s hiring practices under Georgia’s Open Records Act, but the agencies and Kia withheld the records. While the lawsuit was pending, the General Assembly enacted an exemption for certain Quick Start records involving economic-development projects, job applicants, and proprietary hiring practices. The trial court held that applying the amendment to the pending requests would be unconstitutional and denied motions to dismiss. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed and remanded. It held that the amendment applied by its terms and that retroactive application did not impair a constitutionally protected vested right. The right to inspect public records under the former Act was a public right belonging to the people generally, not a private vested right that could not be modified by later legislation. The Court also rejected the contention that retroactive application denied access to the courts. But the pleadings did not establish that every requested record fell within the new exception. The trial court therefore had to determine which portions of the requests sought exempt records and dismiss only those portions shown at the pleadings stage to be covered. The judgment was reversed and the case remanded.