On paper, the Tennessee Public Records Act is an invaluable tool to ensure government transparency and protect our democracy. Passed in 1957, TPRA guarantees the state’s citizens the right to access and inspect records “at all times during normal business hours.’’
But as one who repeatedly has tried and failed to access records from a range of government bodies, this Tennessee citizen can tell you the state’s public records law isn’t working anymore.
I’ve waited months and months for requests to be processed. Once, I waited nearly two years for an answer. Some agencies ignored my requests altogether. I’ve been denied over and over again – all across the state.
Why does this matter? In Tennessee, journalists and regular citizens like you and me are the first line of enforcement when self-interested officials refuse to release public information. Democracy depends on the free flow of information. We need to know what our government is up to. Yet when a journalist or a citizen is denied access, the only recourse in Tennessee is to sue in Chancery Court. It’s an expensive and time-consuming process that’s outside the reach of most of us.
For the system to work – for our democracy to work – government officials must understand that they serve the public. Government isn’t their personal business. It’s our business. For too long, officials here have gotten away with withholding public information. It’s a growing problem that’s accelerated with the collapse of legacy news media. There are fewer journalists to keep watch on government. In that vacuum we all must step up.
We are all government watchdogs. And, in a sense, we are all citizen journalists.
Embracing this concept, I have battled a range of state and local agencies seeking records. Among these skirmishes:
- Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett recently gave me a bill for $380 to obtain “case logs” of records requests made by other citizens and journalists. I paid this bill – a “Public Records Cost Estimate” – even though these sorts of records often are provided free-of-charge online by other states and by federal agencies. Had I lived in or near Nashville, I could have inspected these records in-person for free, but many of our state’s public records are commonly kept in Middle Tennessee, not anywhere near Memphis.
- Charter schools are subject to TPRA, yet, as I learned, many aren’t complying. I recently requested public records policies from several charter schools. State law requires public agencies to prominently post such policies. Some of these charter schools have been in operation for a decade yet had failed to post their policies. When I requested their policies some of the schools ignored my request. Some quickly created and adopted policies. When pressed, one even refused to provide contact information for its public records coordinator.
- The University of Memphis recently denied one of my requests for public records for the unique reason that (according to the Office of Legal Counsel) my request failed to provide “sufficient detail.” Both the state Office of Open Records Counsel and one of Tennessee’s most experienced public records lawyers independently reviewed my request and concluded it was properly worded. When I asked the Office of Open Records Counsel to mediate my dispute with the UofM, the university declined to participate. I never got the records.
I’ve had plenty of successes as well. Too often, however, they have come at a steep cost – financially and timewise.
One of my requests led the state Attorney General to curb the practice by some agencies of collecting requestors’ geospatial locations – an intrusive practice that threatens privacy and chills citizens from filing public records requests. The Attorney General’s opinion came after months of delays and considerable expense.
It is each of our responsibility as citizens to be a government watchdog. When we don’t exercise our First Amendment rights then we risk losing those rights.
Public records are an effective means of monitoring and improving government. Requesting public records shouldn’t be so difficult. It won’t be if we all chip in and let our government officials know we won’t stand for unnecessary delays and excessive costs to obtain public information.
Remember, this is the public’s business. Exercise your First Amendment rights, request to see some of our public records, and tell me what happens.
