People of every political stripe across Tennessee are raising in protest to legislation allowing government to charge fees for inspection of public records.

Fisk University student Justin Jones says such a financial imposition would place an “undue burden” on his fellow collegians seeking information from public records as part of research papers and other assignments.

Jones points out conservative legislators, liberal political leaders, tea party members and numerous media members oppose the proposal in public hearings held recently by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Officer for the Tennessee Office of Open Records.

“This is a moral issue of right and wrong,” Jones says. “It’s not a partisan issue.”

State law already allows local governments to charge fees for copies of open records, but Senate Bill 328 would allow government entities to charge for access based on the time it would take a records custodians to obtain those records, redact any personal information and make them available for public requests.

State Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, sponsored the measure at the request of the Tennessee School Boards Association, which contends some of its systems were inundated with requests for thousands of documents, requiring personnel to take hours away from their main jobs and costing taxpayers money.

After meeting with groups on both sides of the issue last session, Tracy took the bill off notice and asked the Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel to hold this summer’s hearings and work with the Advisory Committee for Open Government to find more efficient methods for obtaining open records when requests are made.

Changing course

Tracy could reintroduce the bill, which is sponsored in the House by Rep. Steve McDaniel, a Parkers Crossroads Republican, again in 2016.

But Tracy appears ready to dump the legislation or at least change it dramatically. In fact, he recently told The Ledger he won’t bring the bill for consideration.

“That was just to get the discussion started,” Tracy says, explaining why he sponsored the fees-for-inspection measure. “I’m never gonna run that bill.”

Tracy contends the state has “bad actors” on both sides of the issue, government bodies that drag their feet on making information available and members of the public who request thousands of pages of emails for entire school boards and county commissions, which can take an inordinate amount of time for small governments to process.

Tracy says he’s not sure how to handle those types of situations, but he wants the Office of Open Records to come back with a recommendation, which he would use if he sponsors legislation on the matter.

“The deal about open records was to put some teeth in if the government was not being fair about getting the information out. Sometimes they are delaying getting the information out,” he adds. “I wanted to put some penalties and put some guidelines on, like if you asked for two or three pages of something, they ought to get that out pretty quick. … That was the whole purpose of it.”

“I’m for open government, always been for open government. I’m for more open than we’ve got now if we can do it,” Tracy says.

Media roar

When the state Legislature passed laws in 2008 allowing governments to charge for copies of open records, including labor costs, it put up a major hurdle for news reporters trying to gather information. Whether 15 cents per copy, which can add up quickly, or tens of thousands of dollars for an information request, the costs affect the ability to report vital information.

The Tennessee Press Association points out it has seen repeated abuse of the existing law, including inflated and excessive charges. In some cases, people have been assessed hourly fees of $250 to pay outside attorneys to deal with simple public records requests.

TPA and its partner, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, believe the proposal poses “serious threats for government transparency and accountability.”

Fees for reviewing public documents would create another exemption to the Tennessee Open Records Act, which already has 350, and “choke off” public access to records, says Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.

Tennessee’s fee schedule for obtaining copies of records needs review as well, Fisher says.

“These are not reasonable fees,” she explains, adding some governments have refused to accept open records requests over the phone and by email.

TPA opposed a similar proposal in 2011, in part because it would make people pay to see records they own. In addition, a government report found such a measure would cost Tennessee taxpayers $1.7 million by adding that amount to government coffers.

The General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee staff reported the Tracy/McDaniel bill would “to some degree, discourage request for open records inspections” and save government money, according to TPA.

Even worse, Tennesseans have little recourse in challenging excessive charges for open records requests other than by hiring an attorney to take the battle to court.

But while large TV stations and newspapers have the money for legal fights over public records, smaller media outlets or freelance reporters might not have the budgets for courtroom action or even to pay a large open records fee.

“Trust but verify” is a concept reporters follow in using public records to find the truth, said Nashville Scene News Editor Andrea Zelinski during a Nashville public hearing.

She points out fees for reviewing records would disproportionately affect reporters of mid-sized and small newspapers unable to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to obtain information.

Newspaper and television reporters serve as “surrogates” for the public, many of whom don’t think they have the ability to obtain public records showing how the government is operating and spending taxpayer money.

Channel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams notes the proposal would give government the ability “to dwarf the public’s right to know.”

“Frequently, the public officials who have the most to hide are the ones who scream the loudest about the Open Records Act,” Williams adds.

Political views

Two politicians on opposite ends of the political spectrum are speaking out against the legislation.

Conservative state Rep. Mark Pody says he depends on the press and public to gather information to help him make decisions.

“I am absolutely opposed to making it harder for somebody to find records,” says Pody, a Lebanon Republican who represents Cannon County and parts of Wilson and DeKalb counties.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, a liberal by East Tennessee standards, opposes charges for inspection of public records because they would set up an “obstacle” for people who want information about their own government.

“We in public service must be transparent in our actions and decision-making, and that includes providing easy and free access to public records,” she says in a statement.

Complying with the Tennessee Public Records Act can require numerous hours of staff work, Rogero says, noting Knoxville departments have spent hundreds of hours over the last four years fulfilling requests for copies or review of legal documents, emails, personnel files and other public records.

“We have never refused or hindered access to those records, but some of the requests have been so voluminous that they have interfered with the ability of staff to do their other daily work,” she states.

Some request is worded “more broadly than necessary” to obtain information, and Knoxville works with those members of the public to supply the information without overtaxing staff, she adds.

“As public officials, we accept our responsibility to be open and transparent. We also encourage members of the media and the general public to act responsibly in utilizing the provisions of the Public Records Act, bearing in mind that the real costs of compliance are borne by Tennessee taxpayers,” she states.

“These are complicated issues, but the simple answer is that public records should be available for inspection at no cost.”

Nashville Electric Service processes hundreds of public records requests dealing with everything from easements to emails, spokeswoman Teresa Corlew pointed out in the Nashville public hearing.

NES suggests labor costs be charged after the first three hours for putting together requests for reviewing information, according to Corlew.

That sounds like a compromise that could catch Tracy’s attention if he follows through with a bill next session. But the suggestion by Rogero, residents and media across the state will make Tennessee a richer state, even if it records custodians have to log a few more hours handling requests.

Ultimately, government needs to remember: It is working for the public, not vice versa.

Sam Stockard can be reached at [email protected].