county public records commission Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Bill would prohibit destruction of public records that are subject to pending records request

The House State Government committee on Thursday approved a bill that would prevent the destruction of public records that are subject to a pending records request, paving the way for the bill to move on to a possible floor vote. State Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, presents bill that would make it unlawful to destroy public records while they are subject to a pending records request. The bill, H.B. 2578, was sponsored by state Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, who explained that a problem arose in Hamilton County last year when the Times Free Press newspaper requested records, and thereafter, the records were destroyed by the custodian before they could obtain them. [...]

Hamilton County’s destruction of public records should set off fire alarms

By Deborah Fisher|2020-06-05T14:19:19-05:00February 3, 2020|Categories: Public Records, records management|Tags: county public records commission, Dana Beltramo, email, Hamilton County, Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor, Hamilton County Commmissioner Randy Fairbanks, public records requests, records retention policy, Times Free Press|1 Comment

Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor refused to allow inspection of its responses to public records requests without the Times Free Press paying more than $700. His office later got permission to destroy the records being requested by the newspaper, even as the newspaper continued to press to see them. Hamilton County government has found a new way to prevent access to public records: get rid of them. It’s not really new. It’s the oldest trick in the book. In late July last year, a reporter with the Chattanooga Times Free Press became concerned that the county government was not following state law in its responses to public records requests. So [...]