NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of a court ruling that the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association is subject to the state's public records laws.

The state's highest court issued an order last week against the body that regulates Tennessee high school sports.

Earlier this year, a state appeals court upheld a lower court's finding that even though the TSSAA is a private nonprofit corporation, it is the functional equivalent of a state agency and subject to open records laws.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed after the TSSAA refused to turn over records to the now-defunct Nashville City Paper. The paper sought records related to the investigation of recruiting violations at the Nashville private school Montgomery Bell Academy.