The Tennessee Public Records Act is found in T.C.A. § 10-7-101 et seq. For purposes of access to public records, the operative provision is found in T.C.A. § 10-7-503, which states in relevant part: “All state county and municipal records ... shall at all times, during business hours, be open for public inspection by any citizen of Tennessee, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless provided by state law.”

The full text of the law can be found online at http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/ and then by clicking on TN Code.

“Records” are defined as “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business of any governmental agency.” T.C.A. § 10-7-301 (6)

The Tennessee Supreme Court in 1994 held that the purpose of the Act is “to apprise the public about the goings-on of its governmental bodies.”

In summary, documents that come into possession of a governmental agency either by virtue of receipt of the documents by the agency, or creation of the documents by the agency, are public records that must be made available for public inspection unless they are exempt from the disclosure by state law. The Act expressly states that it “shall be broadly construed so as to give the fullest possible public access to public records.” T.C.A. § 10-7-505 (d).

Section 10-7-504 lists several records and categories of records that are exempt from disclosure. In addition, this same provision lists cross-references to many statutes that exempt certain records from disclosure.

If a request for public records is denied by a governmental agency, the requesting party may file a petition for access in Chancery Court. Section 10-7-505 sets forth the procedure for enforcing the Public Records Act. Upon request by the Petitioning party, the Court will set a show cause hearing. The statute dispenses with the requirement that an answer to the Petition be filed, and the Court’s ruling constitutes the final judgment. The governmental agency in possession of the records has the burden of proof for justification of non-disclosure of the records, and if the Court finds that the records were “knowingly and willfully” withheld, attorneys’ fees and costs may awarded to the petitioning party.

A survey by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2000 found the General Assembly and the courts have exempted more than 200 records from provisions of the Public Records Act since it was adopted in 1957.  The problem is the majority of those exemptions appear throughout Tennessee Code Annotated and not in the body of T.C.A. 10-7-503 and 504.