Tennessee Open Records Law - Request

Good Afternoon,

We have received your public records request.

In Tennessee, records are only required to be made available pursuant to a public records request if the requestor is a Tennessee citizen pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A). Would you be able to provide proof of Tennessee citizenship so that your request may continue to be processed?
To the extent that sufficient proof of Tennessee citizenship is received, the following law applies:
Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a) provides the following:
(a)(2)(B) The custodian of a public record or the custodian’s designee shall promptly make available for inspection any public record not specifically exempt from disclosure. In the event it is not practicable for the record to be promptly available for inspection, the custodian shall, within seven (7) business days:
(i) Make the information available to the requestor;
(ii) Deny the request in writing or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel. The response shall include the basis for the denial; or
(iii) Furnish the requestor a completed records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel stating the time reasonably necessary to produce the record or information.
Upon receipt of proof of the requestor’s Tennessee citizenship, this office will begin the process of retrieving, reviewing and/or redacting the requested records. In accordance with the above-cited law, this email is being sent to you to inform you that within seven (7) business days after this office’s receipt of proof of the requestor’s Tennessee citizenship, either the records you have requested to inspect/receive copies of will be available or determination of accessibility and availability will be made regarding the requested records.
Thank you.
Mary

Mr. Hoover,

The request that you sent has this date:
Oct. 21, 2021 and states: “For your convenience, I have attached an example of the type of information I am hoping to receive”.

Please clarify regarding the date-is it an old request?
The system received the request in 2022 and we timely responded.

Please also reply to this email with the example you reference as it was also not attached.
Best,

Mary

Thank you for providing the attached. Can you please clarify the dates for which you are requesting this information? Thank you.

Heather

We are in receipt of your request below in which you state that you originally submitted this request on June 1, 2022. However, a substantially similar request was submitted in February and to date we have not received responses to the
the questions in the attached emails from March 2022:

1. “Can you please clarify the dates for which you are requesting this information?” See Attachment “Clarification request”
2. “I see that you indicate the request is made by Kent Hoover, but I don’t see him copied here. Please have him confirm that he is making this request, because in Tennessee, public records are only required to be made available to residents of Tennessee.

Once I have received that request from Mr. Hoover, I can begin processing your request.” See Attachment “Treasury request for information”.

1. In the current request below, we received proof of citizenship from Kent Hoover. However, the requestor is listed as:

Requester Information:
• Name: Roshan Inchody
• Organization: PitchBook Data Inc.
• Address: 901 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98164
• Email: Roshan.Inchody@PitchBook.com<mailto:Roshan.Inchody@PitchBook.com>
• Phone Number: 520-247-9215
• Internal Tracking #40435-93

In order to process the public records request:

1. Kent Hoover, the TN citizen, as the requestor can email Treasury Public Records Treasury.PublicRecordsRequest@tn.gov<mailto:Treasury.PublicRecordsRequest@tn.gov> with his request.
2. Since we have sent responses with questions that still have not been answered, I am happy to speak with Mr. Hoover. I would need Mr. Hoover’s phone number.
3. In March we communicated through the Treasury Public Records email. Instead of responding to our communications, a new but substantially similar request was sent to the TCRS Financial email box.
4. I again request that any email with an attachment be sent to the Treasury Public Records Request email.
5. Please help us help you. If there is not an attachment, our public records form may assist you to provide us with the information needed: https://tntreasury.wufoo.com/forms/r80bajs0ocvnck/
6. As we have stated in prior emails and as it is stated in the form:

“Provide a detailed description of the record(s) requested, including: (1) type of record; (2) timeframe or dates for the records sought; and (3) subject matter or key words related to the records. Under the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA), record requests must be sufficiently detailed to enable a governmental entity to identify the specific records sought. As such, your record request must provide enough detail to enable the records custodian responding to the request to identify the specific records you are seeking.”

1. Note: The Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) grants Tennessee citizens the right to access open public records that exist at the time of the request. The TPRA does not require records custodians to compile information or create or recreate records that do not exist.

Once we receive clarification, we will continue to process the request.

If you have any questions, you may contact me at Treasury.PublicRecordsRequest@tn.gov<mailto:Treasury.PublicRecordsRequest@tn.gov> or at the phone number below:

Best,

Mary

Since 1972
MARY GRIFFIN
Treasury Counsel
Tennessee Department of Treasury
Phone 615.741.7902
Email: mary.e.griffin@tn.gov<mailto:mary.e.griffin@tn.gov>

TCRS is turning 50!
Celebrate with us: TCRS50.com<https://treasury.tn.gov/Retirement/Boards-and-Governance/TCRS50>

We are in receipt of the attached letter dated September 21, 2022 in which you state that your request was last responded to on March 17, 2022 via email by Heather.Iverson@tn.gov<mailto:Heather.Iverson@tn.gov>.
The attached email "Clarification request..." from Heather was on March 18, 2022. The attached "Treasury request for information..." is from Heather on March 11.

Please provide the response you received from Heather on March 17, 2022 that you reference in your letter.

Additionally, I responded on August 26, 2022 (see complete email below) from the Treasury.PublicRecordsRequest@tn.gov<mailto:Treasury.PublicRecordsRequest@tn.gov> giving an overview of the status of this request and asking for specific information.

The attached letter dated September 21, 2022 and received 9/26/2022 is the first communication since the Treasury August 26 request and your letter is non-responsive to our requests.

Please read the email below in its entirety. Only citizens of Tennessee have the right to inspect and receive copies of public records under the Tennessee Public Records Act. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A).

Best,

Mary

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MARY GRIFFIN| Treasury Counsel
TCRS is turning 50! Celebrate with us: TCRS50.com<https://treasury.tn.gov/Retirement/Boards-and-Governance/TCRS50>
Since 1972