This week the state will hold 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 in Tennessee.

Under current law government officials can charge for photocopies of public records, but viewing them is free. Records custodians often prohibit citizens from taking pictures or scanning records themselves.

A bill seeking to impose new fees for records searches stalled in the Legislature this year, but sponsors asked the open records office to review potential changes before lawmakers return in January.

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.

The meeting in Jackson is scheduled for this Thursday, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Lowell Thomas building, downtown. other meetings are planned in Knoxville on Tuesday, Nashville on Wednesday and Jackson on Thursday.

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam calls open records laws “part of the cost of being a democracy,” but says he wants to balance against unreasonable requests.

For more information about this meeting including the state website where written comments can be sent is posted at point5digital.com

For more information go to www.comptroller.tn.gov/openrecords

Written comments can be submitted to [email protected]