Public Records

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how much the hourly fee can be, leaving this detail unspecified in the summary.

Public Records Fee for Inspection

This bill allows government record keepers to charge fees after the first hour if gathering requested public records requires more than one hour of an employee's time.

What This Bill Does

• Removes a prohibition on requiring written requests or charging fees to view public records unless otherwise required by law, and adds an exception allowing for fee assessment under certain conditions.
• Allows record keepers to charge fees after the first free hour if gathering requested public records requires more than one hour of work.

Who It Names or Affects

• Government entities and their employees who manage public records
• People or organizations requesting access to public records

Terms To Know

records custodian

A person responsible for managing and providing access to public records.

public record

Documents, papers, or other materials that are created or kept by a government entity and available for the public to see.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much the hourly fee can be.
• It is unclear if this change will affect all types of public records requests equally.

Official Summary Text

Present law prohibits a
governmental entity
from
requir
ing
a written request or assess
ing
a charge to view a
public record unless otherwise required by law.
This bill authorizes a
records custodian
to

assess
a fee to view records if the records requested reasonably require more than one hour of an employee's time to collect for inspection. A records custodian
m
ust
not assess a fee for the first hour
, but after
the first hour, the records custodian may charge a fee at an hourly rate that is in proportion to the rate of pay of the employee who is collecting the records.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 903
By Vital

SENATE BILL 730
By Lowe

SB0730
002989
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 10,
Chapter 7, relative to open records.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 10-7-503(a)(7)(A)(i), is amended by
deleting the following language:
A governmental entity shall not require a written request or assess a charge to
view a public record unless otherwise required by law.
and substituting instead:
A governmental entity shall not require a written request or assess a charge to
view a public record unless otherwise required by law or as provided in
subdivision (a)(8).
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 10-7-503(a), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(8) A records custodian may require a requestor to pay a fee to view records if
the records requested reasonably require more than one (1) hour of an employee's time
to collect for inspection by the requestor. A records custodian shall not assess a fee for
the first hour an employee works on a request. After the first hour, the records custodian
may charge a fee at an hourly rate that is in proportion to the rate of pay of the employee
who is collecting the records.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.