Some Tennessee lawmakers and open records advocates argue it is a citizen's right to take cellphone photographs of public records, with some restrictions. But a Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel model policy has stirred a statewide dispute over what rights are guaranteed in Tennessee open records law.
In January, the counsel, an advisory body in the state comptroller's office, issued model language for how government agencies could regulate public records requests.
The counsel wrote: "A requestor will [not] be allowed to make copies of records with personal equipment," leaving discretion up to the custodians of public documents.
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