-->Tennessee's Public Records Law does not make a distinction between records on paper and records in an electronic format. A state Supreme Court decision upheld the idea that information stored, say, on a local government's computer is also open to public inspection, just like information printed on paper stored in a filing cabinet.
However, many public officials in Tennessee do not seem aware of that fact. So don't seem surprised when you can't get the county property assessor to cough up a computer file.If a citizen asks to inspect an electronic government record and is turned down, the procedure is the same as the one for citizens who have been turned down for paper records. The government official who turns you down has to cite for you a specific state law that says the electronic record is closed.
If the government person can't cite a valid state law
for you, you can file a complaint in your county Chancery Court, asking the judge to intervene and order the record open to inspection.
Another thing that electronic-record-seekers should watch for is how much government agencies may try to charge for getting databases and other such electronic media. The Tennessean once asked a local utility for a large database and was quoted a price of more than $90,000. That would have included the cost of sending a first-class letter to all 250,000 customers of Nashville Electric Service to notify them that the newspaper had requested the information, such as their names and addresses. However, because the legislature had not specifically authorized that kind of charge for such records, the court held the agency's price quotation wasn't valid.
There are three things to keep in mind about such fees:
• It can save you a lot of headache later on to ask government agencies beforehand how much they will charge for a given database. Always ask such questions ahead of time, before you formally request the record and agree to pay the price for it.
• If a government official gives you a price quote for records that seems high, be sure to ask for an itemized breakdown of the charges.
• On the one hand, governments can charge you a fee for getting copies of records, but be careful. The Public Records Law authorizes governments to charge "reasonable" copying fees for any public record, but it doesn't define "reasonable." The fee, in theory, is legal, but you shouldn't let anyone charge you more than the going market rate for copying such electronic matter. The true cost of the $90,000 database The Tennessean asked for was less than $5,000.
http://sanityforsuperheroes.blogspot.com/2010/04/nshville-tn-file-submission-...
NASHVILLE – An incorrect electronic file submission sent to TennCare’s system caused information for some enrollees to be sent to incorrect addresses statewide. Approximately 3,900 enrollees were affected when letters and cards that contained one or more pieces of personal information were sent to incorrect addresses.
enough said?
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