Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 1240 - Human Services
Subtitle 1240-09 - Access to Public Records of the Department of Human Services
Chapter 1240-09-01 - ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Section 1240-09-01-.04 - REQUESTS FOR REPRODUCTION OF RECORDS
Universal Citation: TN Comp Rules and Regs 1240-09-01-.04
Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Processing of Requests for Copies of Public Records.
(a) An
in-person request for copies of public records of the Department 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.
(b) All requests for copies of public records
of the Department made in-person, or by any other means, shall be directed to
the Records Custodian, State Office of the Department of Human Services, 400
Deaderick Street, 15th floor, Nashville, Tennessee
37243.
(c) All requests for copies
of the Department's public records must be made in writing to the Records
Custodian of the Department of Human Services, and shall identify with
reasonable specificity the record, set or system of records which is
requested.
(d) 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.
(2) 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
as quickly as reasonably possible the requested records that have been located
consistent with the availability of appropriate staff and with regard to the
scope of the records request, and make an assessment of the status and scope of
the copy request and the time and costs required to locate, retrieve, review,
redact, and reproduce the records.
2. Upon review, the Department's staff will
redact any data or information prior to release of the record, or portion of
the record, that it determines 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)
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 on-going 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 reason, then the Department shall
inform the requestor of the assessment and the approximate time required to
comply with the request, the costs to provide reproduction of the records and
provide a summary of the basis for the assessment regarding the costs of
reproducing the records.
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-201 et seq.,4-5-202; 8-4-604(a)(3); 10-7-503; 10-7-504(a)(7); 10-7-506; 10-7-506(a);71-1-105; 71-1-105(4) and (12); Tennessean v. Electric Power Board of Nashville, 979 S.W.2d 297 (Tenn. 1998); 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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