Prominent legal scholar Eugene Volokh is challenging Tennessee law prohibiting out-of-state residents from accessing public records.
According to a suit filed in federal court on Tuesday, Volokh requested records from the Williamson County Circuit Court Clerk earlier this year. The clerk directed Volokh to the Williamson County Archives and Museum, which rejected the request because Volokh does not live in Tennessee.
Tennessee public records law has long vexed out-of-state requestors with its requirement that recipients be Tennessee citizens. The new complaint specifically targets restrictions on court records, not executive branch records that Tennessee governments also don’t provide to nonresidents.
Volokh told the Nashville Banner that he had come across a Tennessee Court of Appeals decision in the case, which stemmed from a political dispute in Williamson County.
“In order to understand the appellate decision, I thought I needed to see the trial court decision,” he said. “Now I want the trial court decision, and they’re not giving it to me. Of course, I’m trying to make a point here, but this originated from my just coming across this case, finding it interesting for my research and wanting to get access to it.”