 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Tennessean v. Electric Power Board of Nashville11/16/1998
COURT OF APPEALS REVERSED; REMANDED TO TRIAL COURT
We granted this appeal to address two questions of first impression under the Tennessee Public Records Act: first, whether a government agency should be required to disclose its customer names, addresses, and telephone numbers as a public record, even though it did not maintain the information in its computer in the exact format in which it had been requested; and second, whether the same government agency may require payment of costs incurred in disclosing the information and the cost of notifying its customers that the information had been requested.
The trial court found that the government agency in this case, the Electric Power Board of Nashville and the Nashville Electric Service, was required to disclose the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of its customers as requested by The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper, but that the agency could require payment of costs incurred in disclosing the information and the cost of notifying its customers that the information had been requested. The Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that the information requested by The Tennessean was not a "record" kept by the agency. The court, however, upheld the disclosure and notification costs charged by the agency.
We agree with the trial court's finding that the information sought by The Tennessean is a public record under the Public Records Act and conclude it is consistent with the legislative mandate of providing "the fullest possible public access to public records." Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-505(d) (1992). We further conclude that the Public Records Act authorized the agency to require payment for the costs of disclosing the records but not for the costs of notifying customers that a request had been made for the information. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-506(a) (1992 & Supp. 1998). Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals' judgment and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
BACKGROUND
The Tennessean and its editor, Frank Sutherland, sought to obtain from the Electric Power Board of Nashville and the Nashville Electric Service (hereinafter "NES") a list of names, addresses, and telephone numbers of its customers. The request was refused on the ground that NES did not possess a record containing the specific information sought.
Victor Hatridge, Vice President and Chief Information Officer for NES, stated in an affidavit that NES did not have a "list or data compilation" that contained only the information sought by The Tennessean, nor had it ever needed such a list to conduct business. He indicated that the closest compilation NES had found was a microfiche report that was generated monthly and contained the names and addresses of service meter locations. He also stated that NES had solicited telephone numbers from its customers to install an Interactive Voice Response system; approximately ninety percent (90%) of the numbers had been accumulated, but no distinction had been made between published and unpublished numbers. According to the affidavit of Wendall Wheeler, an employee with the contractor of NES's information systems, the cost of writing a computer program to add the telephone numbers to the list of names and addresses was $4,500.
Hatridge stated that NES also had a Master Tape that contained not only the information requested by The Tennessean but also various additional information such as service numbers, customer numbers, locations, critical health indicators, and distribution numbers. Hatridge said that the cost of computer time to produce a copy of the Master Tape was $100, and the cost to modify the Master Tape to fit the format req
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|