Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0250 - Children's Services
Subtitle 0250-06 - Administrative Services Division
Chapter 0250-06-01 - Access to Public Records of the Department of Children's Services
Section 0250-06-01-.03 - REQUESTS FOR ACCESS TO RECORDS

Universal Citation: TN Comp Rules and Regs 0250-06-01-.03

Current through September 24, 2024

(1) A request for access to public records shall be made during the regular business hours of the Department from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, except for holidays.

(2) Requests may be made orally or in writing to the office of the Commissioner, or to any Department employee in the State, County, District or Regional Offices of the Department, and shall identify with reasonable specificity the record, set or system of records which is requested. Records requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis; provided, that the Commissioner, or the Commissioner's designee, may at any time alter this provision when circumstances warrant.

(3) Prior Review and Assessment for Confidential, Privileged or Protected Material/Non-Routine Requests.

(a) Review, Assessment and Redaction for Access to Records Requests.
1. Before providing access to the requested record, the Department's staff shall review the requested record or records as quickly as reasonably possible, consistent with the availability of appropriate staff and with regard to the scope of the records request, and make an assessment of the status of the records and the scope of the requested access.

2. Upon review, the Department's staff may redact any such data or information prior to release of the record, or portion of the record, that it has reason to believe has or may have confidential, privileged or otherwise protected material in the record that is subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act.

(b) If the Department determines that none of the provisions of subparagraph (c) below apply and access can otherwise be provided immediately, it shall do so.

(c) If it appears from the Department's review and assessment that access to the record, or the system of records, cannot be provided immediately because:
1. Additional time is required to locate and retrieve the records because the records are not stored on the site or cannot be located;

2. The record or records require redaction of confidential, privileged or otherwise protected material;

3. The record is subject to current use as part of an ongoing investigation and cannot be provided without interrupting or jeopardizing the investigation and/or its timeliness, or the unavailability of the record to the Department's staff will jeopardize the health, safety or welfare of the persons the investigation is intended to protect or the persons involved in the investigation;

4. A computer or computer system that contains the record is unable to be accessed, is undergoing maintenance or re-programming for any Departmental program purposes, and/or cannot be accessed without substantially interfering with the delivery of services to the public or without damage to the integrity, operability or functioning of any computer or computer system;

5. Production of the record or records will require development of a program or application to provide access to, or a readable format for access to, electronic or magnetic sources of the record or records; or

6. For any other reason, then the Department shall inform the requesting person of the assessment and the reasonable approximate time required in complying with the request and a summary of the basis for the assessment regarding access to the records.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-201 et seq.,37-5-112; 10-7-503 and 10-7-506; Tennessean v. Electric Power Board of Nashville, 979 S.W.2d 297 (Tenn. 1998); Wells v. Wharton, 2005 Tenn. App. Lexis 762; and Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. 01-021 (Feb. 8, 2001).

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Tennessee may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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