You are invited to attend a public hearing in Jackson on whether local government should be allowed to charge citizens to inspect public records.
MADISON CO . — The state Office of Open Records Counsel is holding a series of hearings this week about a proposal to make taxpayers pay to inspect public records.
Under current law officials can charge for copies of public records, but viewing them is free. Officials can prohibit citizens from taking pictures or scanning records themselves.
A bill seeking to impose new fees for open record searches stalled in the Legislature this year, but sponsors asked the open records office to review potential changes before lawmakers return in January.
Prompted by the Tennessee Association of School Boards, Tennessee’s Open Records Counsel and state lawmakers say they may charge people merely to look at official documents.
At issue is HB 315, and state senate counterpart SB 328. It was introduced in the senate by Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, and in the state house by Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads at the request of the Tennessee Association of School Boards.
The bill would allow officials to “assess a reasonable charge in producing the record for viewing if the records custodian incurs costs.”
It would also allow custodians to require a written request for public records.
TASB spokesman Lee Harrell on Wednesday told Tennessee Watchdog that he and other officials merely want to start a conversation about people who abuse the state’s open records laws.
Harrell complained about the work to prepare documents for inspection. “There have been several cases with school systems as well as cities and counties where the requests for inspections have been very burdensome, and sometimes people don’t even show up to review the records,” Harrell said.
Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (T.C.O.G.), Tennessee Press Association (T.P.A.) and other citizen groups opposed the proposed legislation because of concerns that fees would be used to impede access to public records regarding government accountability. There are also concerns that new fees will be abused in the same way opponents allege copy fees have been abused. “A few years ago, the Department of Children’s Services tried to charge media organizations more than $55,000 for records dealing with child deaths, which included mileage and labor to drive the records to Nashville from far corners of the state,” according to the T.C.O.G. statement. Journalists and even a college student have been charged more than $1,000 when they requested copies of public records for things such as spending expenses, according to T.C.O.G..
According to a statement from Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth, the hearings will be limited to the following questions:
- Should the TPRA (Tennessee Public Records Act) permit record custodians to charge for inspection of public records?
- If charges for inspection are permitted, should charges for inspection be governed in a manner similar to charges for duplication (Schedule of Reasonable Charges)? If not, why not?
- If charges for inspection are permitted, should any public records such as meeting minutes, agendas, and audit reports be exempted from inspection charges? Why?
- If charges for inspection are permitted, should the factors listed in Tenn. Code Ann. Section 8-4-604 related to charges for copies be considered for inspection? If not, why not?
- What amendments or changes should be made to the current Schedule for Reasonable Charges related to duplication of records? Why?
In a statement from the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, The change would roll back Tennessee’s legal tradition of favoring government transparency and give officials who wish to limit access a new club to use to hinder access to records to they don’t want anyone to see. This tax on journalism and poll tax on citizens is a new revenue stream for something the government is already paid to do, Create, maintain, and make public records available to the citizens who own them.
Gov. Bill Haslam calls open records laws “part of the cost of being a democracy,” but says he wants to balance against unreasonable requests.
WHAT TO KNOW
The meeting in Jackson is scheduled for Thursday September 17, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Lowell Thomas State Office Building, 225 Martin Luther King Drive, Tower B, Conference Room 1..
For more information go to www.comptroller.tn.gov/openrecords
