In 2016, a new law went into effect requiring, among other things, that all government entities in Tennessee designate a public records request coordinator.
According to the statute, T.C.A. 10-7-503 (a)(1)(B), the coordinator is the “individual within a governmental entity whose role it is to ensure that public records requests are routed to the appropriate records custodian and that requests are fulfilled in accordance with § 10-7-503(a)(2)(B).”
But if a citizen makes a request directly to a public records custodian, can the custodian require the requester to first go through the public records request coordinator?
For citizens, this can be viewed as a delay, especially if the coordinator is not available that day or in a different physical location from where the citizen is making an in-person request directly to the custodian.
Lee Pope, who heads the Office of Open Records Counsel in the state Comptroller’s Office, says the law still requires the custodian to fulfill requests even when the government entity has a public records request coordinator. In an Oct. 28, 2021, email responding to a TCOG question about this issue, Pope said:
“We’re aware that many governmental entities direct citizens in their local public records policy to submit requests to the local public records request coordinator, as that person is typically best suited to more expeditiously process public record requests submitted to a governmental entity. That said, however, Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(B) still provides that a records custodian shall promptly make public records available when practicable. Accordingly, we advise governmental entities that a records custodian is still obligated to promptly provide access to public records, but that it should also make the PRRC aware of the requests, as the PRRC is generally responsible for keeping up with requests submitted to local governmental entities.”
The statute being relied upon says this:
The custodian of a public record or the custodian’s designee shall promptly make available for inspection any public record not specifically exempt from disclosure. In the event it is not practicable for the record to be promptly available for inspection, the custodian shall, within seven (7) business days:
(i) Make the information available to the requestor;
(ii) Deny the request in writing or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel. The response shall include the basis for the denial; or
(iii) Furnish the requester in writing, or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel, the time reasonably necessary to produce the record or information.
