Bill > SB0730

This bill modifies Tennessee's public records access law by allowing governmental entities to charge fees for record retrieval that takes more than one hour. Specifically, the bill permits records custodians to assess a fee for record collection time beyond the first hour, with the hourly rate proportional to the employee's pay rate who is conducting the search. The fee can only be charged if the records request reasonably requires more than one hour of an employee's time to collect. This means that the first hour of work to fulfill a public records request is free, and any subsequent time can be billed at a rate aligned with the specific employee's salary. The change is intended to provide compensation to government agencies for extensive record search and retrieval efforts while still maintaining public access to government documents. The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 10, Chapter 7, which governs public records access, and will take effect immediately upon becoming law.

Government Affairs

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Billinfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0730&ga=114