Records Management and Public Records Laws Tennessee Clerk

Records Management and Public Records Laws Tennessee Clerk of Courts Conference 2013

TN Department of State TN State Library and Archives – provides archival and records management advice to state, county and local government entities. Division of Records Management – provides records management assistance to state agencies. Publications Division – serves as the publishing arm of the Secretary of State. Publications also acts as the recorder of a number of government activities and documents.

Why Open Public Records? Public access to government records keeps officials accountable to the people. Access to court records allows the populace to see if justice is being done or if the courts have become corrupted. Open public records laws are one of several factors that differentiates the United States from other nations.

Records Management The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including the processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records (ISO 15489 -1)

Record Life Cycle Creation (Decision) Use and Disposition Distribution Active Storage Inactive Storage Permanent Retention or Destruction

Public Records: Title X Chapter 7 Public Records means all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental agency. TCA 10 -7 -301(6)

Quick Definition of a Public Record Exists in a fixed medium. This may be paper, photographic or electronic. Created or received by an agency pursuant to law or in connection with the transaction of government business. Confidential information on record does not automatically exempt the entire record.

Clerk to Index Records Part 2 – Index to Public Records goes into great detail and is required. TCA 10 -7 -201 Clerks to index records. The purpose is to provide multiple means to access information on a record. With modern databases this may seem redundant but doing so provides a good alternative method of looking up information.

County Public Records 10 -7 -401 County Public Records Commission 10 -7 -403 Public Records Defined 10 -7 -404 Destruction of Public Records 10 -7 -406 Original Records Duplicated 10 -7 -413 Preservation of Permanent Records 10 -7 -414 Transfer of Records to Archives

County Public Records Commission Records may only be disposed with the permission of the County Public Records Commission. The PRC must meet twice a year. The PRC is made up of: a member of the county legislative body, a judge, a genealogist, county clerk, county recorder and the county historian. If there is a county archivist they will be a member as well. Active management of temporary records through the PRC is a key tool for your performance. Work with your local archives to manage your permanent records.

Misc. Provisions – TCA 10 -7 -501 Reproduction of Records to Film 10 -7 -502 Photographic Record deemed original 10 -7 -503 Records open to public inspection – Exceptions

Confidential Records are made confidential primarily by specific action in legislation. The courts will also specify records that are confidential. Such cases are usually then put into legislation. Confidential information must be redacted from records that are available for public view. Medical information in a personnel file is a prime example of confidential information that must be safeguarded.

Filing of Oaths TCA 8 -18 -108 Filing of oaths of state and judicial officers. Any officer whose duties are not limited to one county are to be filed with the Secretary of State. TCA 8 -18 -109 Filing of oaths of county officers. Oaths are to be filed with the County Clerk. The Administrative Office of the Courts would be most appreciative if the clerks would assist the judges in filing their oaths with the Secretary of State.

Clerk of Courts Responsibilities Receive and record filings from all interested parties to a case. The challenge is maintaining the standards of the court and processing an ever increasing volume of filings. File the judgments/actions of the court and notify all parties of such. Maintain the court record and provide it to the public upon request.

Responsibilities – Part Two Clerk maintains and is responsible for the file of record. If any information is lost it is a major issue, whether criminal or civil. Any confidential information must be safeguarded from improper access. A judge may also seal a record at any time. Ever increasing demand for access by attorneys, abstractors, criminal organizations and general public. (The criminals, unfortunately, do not introduce themselves as such. )

Acceptable Forms of Records Paper, Film, Electronic, and all listed above are acceptable. Electronic is specifically outlined in TCA 10 -7 -121. “Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any information required to be kept as a record by any government official may be maintained on a computer … instead of bound books or paper records if the following standards are met: ”

Electronic Records Standards Information is available for public inspection, unless it is a confidential record. Due care is taken to maintain the public record during the time required by law for retention. All data generated and stored shall be copied and stored off site The official can provide a paper copy of the information when needed or requested.

Key Items for Digital Imaging Document Taxonomy – defines the data, where it comes from and where it goes. This will also identify and standardize index fields, a critical process. File Format is Important – PDF or TIFF as these types do not lose data. Non – Proprietary system is essential for long term costs and migration purposes.

Digital Imaging Projects Scan & Retrieve – First stage of the process is often for improving access while reducing active storage space and costs. Workflow for Business Processes – The next aspect organizations want to add allows to streamline current business processes utilizing the digital records. Enterprise Content Management Systems represent the organization wide implementation of electronic content.

Cautions for Electronic Records Information may easily be lost if not stored in the right format, on a long term medium, or properly migrated/backed-up. File format, indexing/keywords and security are crucial in protecting your records. Do not purchase a solution without doing plenty of research and checking on long term viability. Microfilm is still the best long term medium for permanent records.

Digital Redaction If the redaction bar is an overlay placed on top of the primary image it can be lifted or removed, revealing the confidential information. To properly redact a digital image a new image must be created in which the redaction bar is part of a single layer image. There are software products available to make digital redaction easier. Some are automated and make use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

Contact Information Kevin Callaghan, Director Division of Records Management Department of State 312 Rosa L Parks Avenue, 8 th Floor William Snodgrass Tower Nashville, TN 37243 615 -253 -4566 Kevin. Callaghan@TN. gov

Library & Archives Contact Wayne C. Moore, Ph. D. Assistant State Archivist TN State Library and Archives 403 7 th Avenue North Nashville, TN 37243 615 -253 -3458 Wayne. moore@tn. gov http: //www. tn. gov/tsla/index. htm

Publications Contact Cody York, Director Publications Division Department of State 312 Rosa L Parks Avenue, 8 th Floor William Snodgrass Tower Nashville, TN 37243 615 -741 -2650 Cody. York@TN. gov