Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301
Part definitions
As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
- (1) "Agency" means any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other separate unit of government created by law or pursuant to law, including the legislative branch and the judicial branch; provided, however, that for purposes of this part only, "agency" does not include the legislative branch;
- (2) "Confidential public record" means any public record which has been designated confidential by statute and includes information or matters or records considered to be privileged and any aspect of which access by the general public has been generally denied;
- (3) "Disposition" means preservation of the original records in whole or in part, preservation by photographic or other reproduction processes, or outright destruction of the records;
- (4) "Essential records" means any public records essential to the resumption or continuation of operations, to the re-creation of the legal and financial status of government in the state or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to citizens of the state;
- (5) "Permanent records" means those records which have permanent administrative, fiscal, historical or legal value;
- (6) "Public record or records" or "state record or records" means all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental agency;
- (7) "Records creation" means the recording of information on paper, printed forms, punched cards, tape, disk, or any information transmitting media. "Records creation" includes preparation of forms, reports, state publications, and correspondence;
- (8) "Records disposition authorization" means the official document utilized by an agency head to request authority for the disposition of records. The public records commission shall determine and order the proper disposition of state records through the approval of records disposition authorizations;
- (9) "Records management" means the application of management techniques to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of records in order to reduce costs and improve efficiency of recordkeeping. "Records management" includes records retention schedule development, essential records protection, files management and information retrieval systems, microfilm information systems, correspondence and word processing management, records center, forms management, analysis, and design, and reports and publications management;
- (10) "Records of archival value" means any public record which may promote or contribute toward the preservation and understanding of historical, cultural, or natural resources of the state of Tennessee;
- (11) "Records officer" means an individual designated by an agency head to assume responsibility for implementation of the agency's records management program;
- (12) "Section" and "division" means the division of records management of the department of state;
- (13) "Temporary records" means material which can be disposed of in a short period of time as being without value in documenting the functions of an agency. Temporary records will be scheduled for disposal by requesting approval from the public records commission utilizing a records disposition authorization; and
- (14) "Working papers" means those records created to serve as input for final reporting documents, including electronic data processed records, and/or computer output microfilm, and those records which become obsolete immediately after agency use or publication.
Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 207,s 1, eff. 4/23/2013.
Acts 1974, ch. 739, § 1; 1975, ch. 286, § 2; 1978, ch. 544, § 3; T.C.A., § 15-401; Acts 1981, ch. 364, § 3; 1984, ch. 891, § 1; 1984, ch. 947, § 1; 2001, ch. 328, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 29
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: State v. Cawood
State v. Cawood (2004)
“This statutory right extends to those public records, as defined by Tennessee Code Annotated section 10-7-301(6) (2003), maintained by the Clerk of the Appellate Courts unless the record has been submitted under seal or is the subject of a protective order.”
Konvalinka v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority (2008)
“These statutes contain a presumption that the records listed in Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301 (6) (Supp.2007) and Tenn.”
Henderson v. City of Chattanooga (2003)
“When creating the Public Records Commission at Tenn.Code Ann. § 10-7-301 et seq., the legislature also defined the various different types of records over which the Commission had responsibility, including the following definition of public records: “Public record or records” or…”
Griffin v. City of Knoxville (1991)
“Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301 (6) (1987) (emphasis added).”
Memphis Publishing Co. v. Cherokee Children & Family Services, Inc. (2002)
“Tenn.Code Ann. § 10-7-301 (1999 and Supp.”
Alex Friedmann v. Marshall County, TN (2015)
“] Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301 (6) (2012 and Supp.”
Swift v. Campbell (2004)
“They create a presumption that records described in Tenn.Code Ann. § 10-7-301(6) (Supp.2003) and Tenn.”
Tennessean, a Division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. v. Electric Power Board of Nashville (1998)
“” See Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301 (6). We believe the Court of Appeals’ emphasis on the physical format of a record is inconsistent with the language in the Public Records Act and its policy of full disclosure.”
Allen v. Day (2006)
“Functional Equivalency Test The Public Records Act's application has been limited to public records, Tennessee Code Annotated section 10-7-503(a), which are statutorily defined as "all documents .”
Schneider v. City of Jackson (2007)
“The Public Records Act broadly defines “[pjublic record or records” or “state record or records” to include “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless…”
Friedmann v. Corrections Corp. of America (2009)
“Tenn.Code Ann. § 10-7-301(6) defines public record to mean “[A]ll documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics made or…”
Memphis Publishing Co. v. City of Memphis (1994)
“The Court of Appeals reversed that judgment, holding that since the officers did not rely on the notes in reaching their conclusions about the cause of death, but *687 merely took custody of the notes for purposes of safekeeping, the notes were not used as evidence in the…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301(2) — 1 case
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301(6) — 16 cases
State v. Cawood (2004)
“This statutory right extends to those public records, as defined by Tennessee Code Annotated section 10-7-301(6) (2003), maintained by the Clerk of the Appellate Courts unless the record has been submitted under seal or is the subject of a protective order.”
Henderson v. City of Chattanooga (2003)
“When creating the Public Records Commission at Tenn.Code Ann. § 10-7-301 et seq., the legislature also defined the various different types of records over which the Commission had responsibility, including the following definition of public records: “Public record or records” or…”
Swift v. Campbell (2004)
“They create a presumption that records described in Tenn.Code Ann. § 10-7-301(6) (Supp.2003) and Tenn.”
Allen v. Day (2006)
“Functional Equivalency Test The Public Records Act's application has been limited to public records, Tennessee Code Annotated section 10-7-503(a), which are statutorily defined as "all documents .”
Schneider v. City of Jackson (2007)
“The Public Records Act broadly defines “[pjublic record or records” or “state record or records” to include “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301(b) — 1 case
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