The Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel wants to know what you think about a proposal to make you pay for looking at public records -- the records that local and state public officials create every day in doing their jobs on your behalf.
We're not talking about them making you pay for copies - they already make you do that. In fact, many records custodians won't even let you make your own copies with electronic pictures or digital scanners. And now they want to make you pay just to see the records - just to view them.
Benches at the entrance to Orchard Knob Elementary School bear an inscription to denote the contribution of the Hamilton County Commission, Commissioner Warren Mackey, the City of Chattanooga, and Councilman Yusuf Hakeem.Tell them what you think
The Office of Open Records Counsel is collecting comments about charging a fee to inspect public records. The public can comment online and in public hearings in Nashville today and and Jackson on Thursday.Email thoughts to comments.open.records@cot.tn.gov and get information about the public hearings at the Office of Open Records Counsel website.
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Cooper: Charge should not be levied to view public records
Under current law, government officials can charge for photocopies of public records, but viewing them is free.
A bill seeking to impose new fees for records searches has been in the making for some time. The bill stalled in the General Assembly this year, but sponsors asked the open records office to review potential changes and make recommendations to lawmakers before they return in January. To that end, the Office of Open Records is holding a series of hearings on the proposal this week.
And Republican Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett told The Associated Press: "Accountability begins with access, and true accountability means reducing, not increasing, obstacles to access public records. Charging taxpayers for exercising their right to merely inspect the very documents their taxes pay to produce is a ridiculous step backward, out of the sunshine and into the shadows."
Accountability. It's always a favorite word in political campaigns. In fact, you might recall that most of Tennessee's elected officials promised more of it in the most recent elections. They talked about putting records on websites, open where all we should have to do is go to the state or city or county web page and follow links.
How does this work? Well, it's hit or miss. This is mid-September and Hamilton County (one of the better online records providers) just recently put the accounting of county commissioners' discretionary spending between July 1, 2015, and Sept. 4, 2015, on its web page.
Two years ago this month, none of those records was posted, though our nine commissioners receive $100,000 a year to spend as they please on pet projects. That's nearly $1 million a year of our money.
In fact, it wasn't until former Times Free Press reporter Louie Brogdon in 2013 asked the commission to provide a full historical record. (The commissioners began receiving discretionary money in 1981.) Brogdon was told that would take considerable time to track.
About a month later, in October 2013, commissioners decided to begin posting online (beginning with fiscal 2013) information about how they spend the money. Your money.
Tennessee's Office of Open Records - and Tennessee's elected officials - need to make records really open. Not just open at a price.