NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam and top aides have used the Republican's personal email server to communicate about official business.

A records request by WTVF-TV in Nashville found (http://bit.ly/27U9yzt) that the email accounts are linked to the governor's personal website, BillHaslam.com.

WTVF found that the governor was briefed by budget officials on his personal account and that the server was also used by his then-chief of staff Mark Cate, who had used the server to email the state's education commissioner also apparently using a private account.

The governor's office responded that the use of the private email server for public business was rare and inadvertent and that the private server would be subject to open records requests if it was used for public business.