Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 1210 - Public Records Commissions
Chapter 1210-01 - Rules of Public Records Commission
Section 1210-01-02 - DEFINITIONS

(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 law 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) "Commission" means the Public Records Commission.

(4) "Disposition" means the preservation of the original records in whole or in part, preservation by photographic or other reproduction processes or outright destruction of the records.

(5) "Division" means the Records Management Division.

(6) "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.

(7) "Permanent Records" means those records which have permanent administrative, fiscal, historical or legal value.

(8) "Public Record" or "State 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.

(9) "Records Creation" means the recording of information on paper, printed forms, punched cards, tape, disk or any information transmitting media. It shall include preparation of forms, reports, state publications and correspondence.

(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 Disposition Authorization" or "RDA" means the official document utilized by an agency head to request authority for the disposition of records. The Commission shall determine and order the proper disposition of state records through the approval of RDAs.

(12) "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. It shall include 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.

(13) "Record Series" means a group of identical or related records filed as a unit because they relate to the same or similar subject or function, result from the same activity, document a specific type of transaction, take a particular physical form or have some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, maintenance or use.

(14) "Retention Schedule" means the time frame established in the records disposition authorization for the record series indicating the length of time in which a record or record series must be maintained by a state agency before disposition.

(15) "Temporary Records" means those materials 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 Commission utilizing a RDA.

(16) "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.