(1) A request for
copies of 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 Copy
Requests.
(a) Review, Assessment and Redaction
of Records for Copy Request.
1. Before
reproducing copies of 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 shall make an assessment of the status and scope of the
copy request and the difficulty and costs for copies of, or for preparing, any
records to determine if the request will require that "routine" or
"non-routine" copies, as defined in Section 0250-6-1-.02, or a combination
thereof, be provided.
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 that 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) apply and copies can otherwise
be provided immediately, it shall do so. If the reproduction of copies of the
records is requested and the request involves the reproduction of "routine"
copies, it shall inform the requesting person and shall make such records
available to the requesting person as soon as reasonably possible.
(c) If it appears from the Department's
assessment that reproduction of 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 reproduced 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. Reproduction of the record or records will
require development of a program or application to provide copies, in a
readable format from, electronic or magnetic sources of the record or records,
or that the person or entity has requested copies of the record in a specific
format, and that such program, application or format does not currently exist;
or
6. For any other reason, then
the Department shall inform the requesting person of the assessment and the
reasonable approximate time required and costs involved in complying with the
request and a summary of the basis for the assessment regarding the
reproduction of copies of the records.
