Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Fees and charges for copies of public
records should not be used to hinder access to public records. Unless otherwise
required by statute, no charges will be assessed for copies and duplicates
unless total cost of both copying and labor is more than fifty ($50.00)
dollars.
(2) Records custodians
shall provide requestors with an itemized estimate of the charges prior to
producing copies of records and may require pre-payment of such charges before
producing requested records. Records custodians shall make best efforts to
provide records electronically.
(3)
When fees for copies and labor do not exceed fifty ($50.00) dollars, the fees
will be waived. Fees associated with aggregated records requests will not be
waived. Fees set by statute cannot be waived.
(4) Fees and charges for copies shall be
based on the most current version of the Schedule of Reasonable Charges, issued
by the Office of Open Records Counsel, available at
https://www.comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/orc/documents/oorc/policies-and-guidelines/ScheduleofReasonableCharges.pdf.
(5) A requestor may provide an empty jump
drive, empty USB memory stick, or secured transfer site for copies of records.
If the memory stick or jump drive provided is not empty, no records will be
provided through that medium. There will be no copy charges when records are
produced in this medium however, labor charges will still apply.
(6) Other:
(a) Five ($5.00) dollars for each Moving
Violation Record/driver history per T.C.A. §
55-50-204.
(b) Five ($5.00) dollars for each Affidavit
for proof of insurance per T.C.A. §
55-50-204.
(c) Four ($4.00) dollars for unredacted crash
reports per T.C.A. §
55-12-108. Paper copies of
redacted crash reports are fifteen cents ($0.15) per page.
(d) Unredacted Crash Videos/DVDs with photos
taken by the Investigating Trooper shall be provided for free, if the requestor
is authorized to receive unredacted material under state or federal
law.
(e) Crash Videos/DVDs with
photos taken by the Investigating Trooper that are required to be redacted per
state or federal law will be charged at actual cost of thirty-one dollars and
twenty-five cents ($31.25) per quarter hour of video, including the cost of any
redaction done by a third-party vendor.
(f) Paper copies of Crash Photos taken by the
Investigating Trooper shall be made available at a charge of fifteen cents
($0.15) per page.
(g) Bulk requests
for driver license data shall be charged per Rule
1340-08-01-.04.
(h) Individual Blood Alcohol Reports shall be
provided for free.
(i) Individual
Toxicology Reports shall be provided for free.
(j) Paper copies of Vehicular Homicide
Reports shall be made available at a charge of fifteen cents ($0.15) per page.
There shall be no labor charge for copying these reports.
(k) Paper copies of Critical Incident
Response Team ("CIRT") photos taken by CIRT shall be made available at a charge
of fifteen cents ($0.15) per page. There shall be no labor charge for copying
these reports.
(l) E-Crime Reports
(SF-1496) shall be provided for free.
(m) Incident Reports (SF-1493) shall be
provided for free.
(n) Offense
Reports (SF-1492) shall be provided for free.
(o) Labor when time exceeds one (1)
hour.
(p) If an outside vendor is
used, the actual costs assessed by the vendor.
(7) Payment is to be made by mailing personal
check, cashier's check, or money order payable to the Tennessee Department of
Safety & Homeland Security at the Tennessee Tower located at 312 Rosa Parks
Avenue 25th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243.
(8) Advance payment
(a) Payment in advance of half of the
estimated amount will be required when costs are estimated to exceed one
hundred ($100.00) dollars.
(b)
Payment in advance of the full estimated amount will be required when TDOSHS is
using an outside vendor to complete the request. TDOSHS will notify the
requestor in advance of preparing the records that an outside vendor is being
used and the estimated amount from the vendor.
(9) The Commissioner or the PRRC, as the
Commissioner's designee, may, on a case-by-case basis, reduce any part of the
fees calculated under this policy or waive any fee upon a written request for
waiver or reduction.
(a) Fees set by statute
or charged by an outside vendor shall not be reduced or waived.
(b) The waiver or a reduction of any fees is
in the sole discretion of the Commissioner or PRRC, is not subject to judicial
review, and does not establish any precedent.
(10) Retention of Requests
(a) If a request, either for copies or
inspection, is unclaimed for thirty (30) days after TDOSHS notified the
requestor, in writing, of the completion of the request and any charges, TDOSHS
shall send a letter to the requestor, in writing, notifying the requestor that:
1. The records are available and the
location; and
2. If the records
remain unclaimed for an additional thirty (30) days from the date of the
letter, the requestor will need to submit a new request for the records, and
the new request may result in a new fee being charged.
(b) At the end of the second thirty (30) day
period, any original records shall be returned to their location and any copies
made shall be destroyed by TDOSHS. If the original requestor submits a second
request prior to the destruction of any copies, TDOSHS shall charge the
original cost for the copying and labor, in addition to any fees that might be
required if the second request seeks additional materials.
(c) If the request was to inspect and only a
telephone number was provided, TDOSHS shall telephone the requestor and make
notes regarding any conversation and shall save such notes as part of the
request.
(11) Lack of
Payment or Lack of Inspection
(a) If a person
makes two (2) or more requests to view a public record within a six-month
period and, for each request, the person fails to view the public record within
fifteen (15) business days of receiving notification that the record is
available to view, TDOSHS is not required to comply with any public records
request from the person for a period of six (6) months from the date of the
second request to view the public record unless the governmental entity
determines failure to view the public record was for good cause; and
(b) If a person makes a request for copies of
a public record and, after copies have been produced, the person fails to pay
to TDOSHS the cost for producing such copies, TDOSHS is not required to comply
with any public records request from the person until the person pays for such
copies; provided, that the person was provided with an estimated cost for
producing the copies in accordance with state law and these rules prior to
producing the copies and the person agreed to pay the estimated cost for such
copies.
(12) No Response
(a) If a person makes a request for
inspection or copies of records and fails to provide necessary identification
or payment within sixty (60) days of notification for identification or
payment, TDOSHS may close the request and refund any monies paid.
(13) Bulk Crash Report Requests
(a) For the purpose of this rule, "bulk"
means the one-time preparation and furnishing of multiple individual crash
reports.
(b) Bulk requests shall be
furnished in electronic format unless requested otherwise and agreed to by
TDOSHS.
(c) If a person makes a
request for bulk crash reports and the responsive number of which is less than
fifteen (15) reports, the fees associated with that request are
waived.
(d) If there more than
fifteen (15) responsive records, the requestor shall be charged for the actual
labor of the person or persons retrieving the reports.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
4-3-2009; 10-7-501, et seq.; and
10-7-503, et seq.
