Right to Inspect Public Records — Public Records Having Commercial Value

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Public Libraries, Archives and Records
  4. Public Records
  5. Miscellaneous Provisions
  6. Right to Inspect Public Records — Public Records Having Commercial Value

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  1. In all cases where any person has the right to inspect any such public records, such person shall have the right to take extracts or make copies thereof, and to make photographs or photostats of the same while such records are in the possession, custody and control of the lawful custodian thereof or such custodian's authorized deputy; provided, that the lawful custodian of such records shall have the right to adopt and enforce reasonable rules governing the making of such extracts, copies, photographs or photostats.
  2. Within ten (10) days of the release of public records originating in the office of the county assessor of property, the state agency releasing such records shall notify, in writing, the assessor of property of the county in which such records originated of the records released and the name and address of the person or firm receiving the records. The reporting requirements of this subsection (b) shall not apply when county or city summary assessment information is released.
    1. If a request is made for a copy of a public record that has commercial value, and such request requires the reproduction of all or a portion of a computer generated map or other similar geographic data that was developed with public funds, a state department or agency or a political subdivision of the state having primary responsibility for the data or system may establish and impose reasonable fees for the reproduction of such record, in addition to any fees or charges that may lawfully be imposed pursuant to this section. The additional fees authorized by this subsection (c) may not be assessed against individuals who request copies of records for themselves or when the record requested does not have commercial value. State departments and agencies and political subdivisions of the state may charge a reasonable fee (cost of reproduction only) for information requested by the news media for news gathering purposes (broadcast or publication).
    2. The additional fees authorized by this subsection (c) shall relate to the actual development costs of such maps or geographic data and may include:
      1. Labor costs;
      2. Costs incurred in design, development, testing, implementation and training; and
      3. Costs necessary to ensure that the map or data is accurate, complete and current, including the cost of adding to, updating, modifying and deleting information.
    3. The development cost recovery set forth above shall be limited to not more than ten percent (10%) of the total development costs unless additional development cost recovery between ten percent (10%) and twenty percent (20%) is approved by the following procedures: For state departments and agencies, the information systems council (ISC) shall review a proposed business plan explaining the need for the additional development cost recovery. If the ISC approves additional development cost recovery, such recovery shall be submitted to the general assembly for approval. For political subdivisions of the state, approval for additional development cost recovery as contained in a proposed business plan must be obtained from the governing legislative body. If the governing legislative body approves additional development cost recovery, such recovery shall be submitted to the ISC for approval. The development costs of any system being recovered with fees authorized by this section shall be subject to audit by the comptroller of the treasury, it being the legislative intent that once such additional fees have paid the portion of the development costs authorized above, such fees shall be adjusted to generate only the amount necessary to maintain the data and ensure that it is accurate, complete and current for the life of the particular system. Notwithstanding the limitations above, the recovery of maintenance costs shall not be subject to the limitations and procedures provided above for the recovery of development costs.
    4. As used in this subsection (c), “record that has commercial value” means a record requested for any purpose other than:
      1. A non-business use by an individual; and
      2. A news gathering use by the news media.


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