Reflecting on ‘public’ records

Tom Griscom
Publisher and Executive Editor
Chattanooga Times Free Press

December 5, 2004

            "Someone should have directed them to me. Any citizen can make a request to the public affairs office, and we’ll get them the report that same day."

            That statement by Steve Shular, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, was reported in the Memphis Commercial Appeal as one of four stories on a statewide compliance survey of the Open Records law.

            While spokesmen and other public affairs officials interact with the media and sometimes the general public, the broader issue is why those charged with doing the public’s business do not know and understand Tennessee law, particularly when it has existed since 1957.

            The Tennessee Coalition on Open Government, which conducted the survey, is a nonprofit organization made up of the state’s largest print and broadcast media and several public interest groups. The Chattanooga Times Free Press is a TCOG member.

            TCOG conducted the survey in all 95 Tennessee counties Nov. 4 and 5. Auditors requested 356 documents and were refused access 117 times. The information included crime logs and incident reports from the sheriff and one municipal police department in each county; a school suspension report from one public school district in each county; and the last approved minutes from the local planning commission or zoning board.

            State law states these records should be available without providing identification or filling out a form to view the public records. In several instances that did not happen.

            Auditors, who were journalists, college students and ordinary citizens, received varied responses to the document requests.

            Some were asked to provide a driver’s license or other identification. Some were asked the reason they were making the request.

            Information was not provided for a variety of reasons. Some officials cited the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, which applies to health information and more readily pertains to doctors and hospitals. Other relied on the Homeland Security Act, a 2002 federal law that addresses terrorism.     The four records the auditors requested were chosen for their simplicity. They do not fall within any of the 200 exemptions to the Open Record law.

            TCOG decided to conduct the audit, which has been completed in 26 other states, to document the ease or lack thereof in obtaining public information.

            The four documents should be readily accessible to anyone in Tennessee who requests to view them.

            But when faced with a potential $33 computer access fee, or the need for a court order, or simply that "John Q. Citizen" cannot walk in and see public records, there apparently is a lack of information among public officials.

            Crockett County Sheriff Troy Klyce told The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, "It didn’t matter whether you can ID them or not. It’s a public record."

            The audit showed the need for broader education on the state’s Open Records Act. It may be easier to just say no, or to challenge the request, but the state law says otherwise.

            From this exercise, perhaps TCOG will work with law enforcement officials, school systems and others to clarify the rights of Tennesseans to observe without obstruction documents that relate to the people’s business.

            Tom Griscom is president of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.