'I want to keep things flowing,' Bredesen says of records access
October 2, 2008: Gov. Phil Bredesen said he wants to reserve judgment on new guidelines for when labor costs can be charged for records searches.
The Democratic governor said Thursday that he supports putting limits on free public records requests for excessive amounts of information. But he said he wasn't familiar with a decision this week by the Office of Open Records Counsel to allow records custodians to charge for any searches that take longer than one hour. Read the full article here.
New TN rules call for charges on records search
October 2, 2008: Government officials in Tennessee will be able to charge people asking for public records when it takes more than an hour of staff time to fulfill the request.
The Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel issued a fee schedule Wednesday that clears the way for records custodians to begin charging hourly rates for staff time spent locating, retrieving, editing or reproducing the records. Read the full article here.
Attorney: Client privilege trumps open records
October 1, 2008: Any county attorney communication advising public officials about an issue they'll vote on is an open record — even if a court order keeps such Bible Park USA documents under seal, a Tennessee Press Association attorney said.
"Once a record becomes a public record, it does not lose that public status because a copy of it gets put somewhere else," said Rick Hollow, a Knoxville attorney who's represented the TPA since 1970. "If a copy of it is in the county commission office, it's a public record." Read the full article here.
Roane officials worry about court records
September 22, 2008: Record keeping in Roane County Circuit Court has become a worry for other local officials who contend that criminal cases are being underreported, records aren't being filed in a timely manner, and more than $9 million in court costs and fines hasn't been collected. Read the full article here.
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