NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennesseans can now search the full records of many state Supreme Court cases through an online database thanks to the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
The opinions have long been available electronically, but the associated case files were stored in more than 10,000 boxes in the attic of the Capitol building, according to a news release from the Administrative Office of the Courts. For more than a decade, Library and Archive staff has been cleaning and indexing these records. Today, around 85% of the collection is available online.
Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett, through his leadership role in the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society, helped make the project happen.
"You can open up a book and find the opinion, but you don't have the briefs. You don't see the arguments. You don't have the depositions," Bennett said. "If you really want to go behind the opinion, these documents are great."