State considers charging to see public records
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Taxpayers soon could have to pay to inspect public records in Tennessee. The state will host a hearing in Jackson this week to get public input about the possible change. “It can be very time consuming to retrieve that information,” Madison County Clerk Fred Birmingham said. Birmingham said his office does not generally get large requests. “The citizens own the documents,” he said. “They should be able to have access to them and it should be a reasonable cost.” The state Office of Open Records Counsel will host a hearing Thursday in Jackson to get public input. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Deborah Fisher said she plans to attend and spoke with WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News via Skype from Nashville. “Charging fees would choke off citizen access to public records,” Fisher said. Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads, sponsored the bill. He said there‘s a handful of people who abuse the privilege, causing workers to do time-consuming and costly research that keeps employees from their normal duties. McDaniel said they will take information from the hearings and use that going forward to make a decision. Fisher said in the past agencies charged hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for public records. “If they can’t afford the fee that that local government comes up with, they won’t be able to see it,” she said. The current bill says the first hour of labor costs and first 25 copies will be free of charge. The state already hosted public hearings in Knoxville and Nashville. Thursday‘s hearing in Jackson starts at 3 p.m. It will take place at the Lowell Thomas State Office Building located at 225 Martin Luther King Drive, Tower B in downtown Jackson.
