NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - After an eight-month review, Governor Bill Haslam has decided against major changes in how the executive branch handles public records requests.
The Republican governor said in a recent interview with The Associated Press that his initial concerns about abuse of open records laws had been allayed and that he has instructed his Cabinet to expedite records production to the public and news media.
Haslam said at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Press Association in February that he wanted to establish a uniform open records policy for his administration because of differing fee structures across state agencies. But the governor said the review revealed that the current system best addresses varying demands for records in different departments.
That means some agencies can continue to charge fees for records copies.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
