News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech University will look to clarify its public record request procedures following a special-called meeting Tuesday.
The policy states that out-of-state citizens and/or students may present proof of Tennessee residency to obtain records.
Journalism Professor Vanessa Curry said out-of-state students should have access to files regardless of state citizenship.
“We need to retrace our steps and seriously consider a more important question, I think, which until this point has been overlooked,” Curry said. “The fact is the state law gives a government entity the option of requiring government-issued photo identification to access public records. The wording of the law is ‘may require’, not ‘shall.'”
The University’s Executive Committee voted to continue the discussion during the Board of Trustees’ regular June meeting.
Trustee Johnny Stites said he believes Tennesseans should be the only parties capable of accessing public files in the state.
“From my perspective, the people of Tennessee deserve to be able to obtain all records that are being held in custody by the State of Tennessee. The legislature said that and I agree with it,” Stites said. “What I don’t agree with is somebody in Michigan, or Afghanistan, or any other place in the world has a right to come here and demand information that is reserved for Tennesseans.”
Trustee Trudy Harper said although she understood Curry’s viewpoint, allowing any person access to records could lead to unintended consequences.
“I don’t know what we would be releasing and to whom. I don’t have any right to deny something to someone who lives here and I don’t have any intention to,” Harper said. “But, I don’t know what someone might ask for… Vendors will do anything to get confidential information about their competitors and about customers. You just don’t know how something is going to get used. Id’ rather know they went through the trouble of finding someone who lives in Tennessee to ask for the information.”
University communication officials reported during the meeting that approximately 30 of 80 yearly records are denied due to being out of state requestors, most of which having a commercial purpose.
Current request forms from most state agencies allow clarification on record request denials, including insufficiency, non-existing records, non-citizen of Tennessee, or no proof of citizenship.
