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Haslam Announces Departure Of Revenue Commissioner

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Tennessee Revenue Commissioner Richard Roberts has been set to leave Governor Bill Haslam's Cabinet.

The governor announced Wednesday that Roberts' last day at the agency responsible for state tax collections will be December 2.

Haslam called Roberts a "valuable part" of his administration since 2011 and lauded him for streamlining processes for businesses and updating the state's tax code.

The Revenue Department was unsuccessfully sued in 2015 by a Nashville attorney who argued that the agency's refusal to release records related to a $350,000 analysis of business tax collections was a willful violation of the Tennessee Open Records Act.

Roberts in an affidavit in the case said Tennessee law provided him wide latitude to decide to deny records requests based on what is "in the best interests of the state."