Tennessee Public Records Act: Who Can Request and How

Tennessee's public records law is the Tennessee Public Records Act, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503 and the surrounding sections of Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5. It covers state, county and municipal records.

One feature dominates every practical discussion of it, so this page leads with it rather than burying it: Tennessee restricts the general statutory right of access to Tennessee citizens, with one 2026 exception for a non-citizen's own law enforcement records. Only a handful of states do this, and it changes how an out-of-state requester has to approach the whole exercise.

For the rest of the country, see the public records laws by state hub.

Tennessee's citizen-only rule, in the statute's own words

Section 10-7-503(a) states:

"All state, county and municipal records shall, at all times during business hours... be open for personal inspection by any citizen of this state, and those in charge of the records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless otherwise provided by state law."

Read that carefully. The guarantee runs to "any citizen of this state." The prohibition on refusal runs to "any citizen." Neither sentence reaches a resident of Georgia, Kentucky or anywhere else.

Proof of residency. A governmental entity may require a government-issued photo identification showing the requester's address, or, where the requester has no such ID, other proof of Tennessee residency. So this is not a rule that exists on paper and is never enforced. Tennessee records custodians routinely ask.

Discretion, not prohibition. The Act limits who is guaranteed access. It does not forbid an agency from answering an out-of-state request, and plenty of Tennessee agencies do answer them, particularly for routine records they publish anyway. But for records outside § 10-7-503(i), a refusal is lawful, and the court petition in § 10-7-505(a) is written for any citizen of Tennessee. Since July 1, 2026, § 10-7-503(i) entitles a non-citizen to law enforcement records pertaining solely to that person, on a written request identifying the record, a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID and a signed affidavit; it does not reach records that are confidential by law, privileged under Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, or covered by the investigative privilege. Section 10-7-505(a) was not amended, so how a non-citizen enforces that right in court is unsettled.

What this means if you do not live in Tennessee

If the record is a law enforcement record about you, such as your own arrest, incident or crash report or a citation, start with Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(i), in force since July 1, 2026: send a written request identifying the specific record, a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID, and a signed affidavit that the record pertains solely to you. For other records, four practical routes, in rough order of usefulness:

1. Ask anyway, and ask nicely. Frame the request as a request for voluntary disclosure rather than a demand under the Act. Many custodians will provide routine records without checking residency at all.
2. Have a Tennessee resident make the request. This is the standard workaround and it is not a trick: a Tennessee citizen has a statutory right to inspect and can lawfully share what they receive. The request has to be genuinely theirs, made in their own name.
3. Use record systems outside the Public Records Act. Court records, property records, business filings and vital records mostly run through their own statutory schemes with their own eligibility rules, and those rules are frequently not residency based. See Tennessee property records and Tennessee death records.
4. Check whether the record is federal. If the underlying agency is federal, the federal Freedom of Information Act applies instead, and 5 U.S.C. 552 lets "any person" request, with no residency condition at all. See how to file a FOIA request.

Note that residency limits of this kind have been litigated. The Supreme Court upheld Virginia's comparable "citizens of the Commonwealth" limitation in McBurney v. Young, 569 U.S. 221 (2013), rejecting Privileges and Immunities and dormant Commerce Clause challenges. That decision is about Virginia's statute, but it is the reason nobody expects Tennessee's restriction to fall on constitutional grounds.

The 7 business day deadline

Tennessee's clock is one of the shorter ones in the country. Section 10-7-503 requires prompt availability, with a 7 business day backstop:

"The custodian of a public record or the custodian's designee shall promptly make available for inspection any public record not specifically exempt from disclosure. In the event it is not practicable for the record to be promptly available for inspection, the custodian shall, within seven (7) business days: (i) Make the information available to the requestor; (ii) Deny the request in writing or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel. The response shall include the basis for the denial; or (iii) Furnish the requester in writing, or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel, the time reasonably necessary to produce the record or information."

Three things follow.

The default is promptly, not seven days. The seven business days apply where prompt inspection is not practicable, so an agency that sits on a simple request for the full week has not automatically complied.

A denial has to be in writing. Verbal refusals do not satisfy the statute, and asking for the written denial is a reasonable and useful first follow up.

The response form is a real instrument. The Office of Open Records Counsel, which sits within the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, develops a records request response form that custodians use. Asking for the completed form is a concrete request an agency understands.

Who to ask, and how

There is no statewide portal. Every Tennessee governmental entity is required to have a public records policy, and most publish it along with the name of the public records request coordinator.

1. Find the entity's records request coordinator. City recorder, county clerk, school district central office, or the agency's designated coordinator.
2. Read the entity's public records policy first. Tennessee policies commonly specify the accepted request methods and whether the entity requires its own form. Following the policy avoids an easy rejection.
3. Be ready to show Tennessee residency. Bring or attach a government-issued photo ID showing your address.
4. Put it in writing and keep the date. The 7 business day clock is easier to enforce when you can prove when it started.
5. Describe the record, not the question. The Act covers existing records; it does not require anyone to research or answer questions.
6. Ask for the fee estimate up front.

Our free public records request generator produces a written Tennessee request with the right statutory language. It runs in your browser and stores nothing.

Fees

Tennessee allows reasonable charges under a schedule established through the framework in Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503, and the Office of Open Records Counsel publishes guidance and a schedule of reasonable charges that many entities adopt.

We did not independently verify current dollar figures for this page, so we are not going to print one. Practical guidance instead:

• Ask for the entity's adopted fee schedule in writing before the work starts. Entities that have adopted the Office of Open Records Counsel schedule will say so.
• Ask to inspect rather than copy where you only need to read. Inspection is the right the statute leads with.
• Ask for electronic delivery of records already kept electronically, which usually avoids per page charges.
• Ask whether the entity waives or reduces charges for small requests. Many Tennessee entities set a threshold below which they do not bill, but that is policy rather than statute, so it varies.
• Do not assume a federal-style public interest waiver exists. The waiver mechanism in the federal FOIA is a federal feature. Whether any comparable reduction applies in Tennessee depends on the entity's policy.

If a quote looks inflated, ask the entity to itemize it against its adopted schedule, and note that the Office of Open Records Counsel is the state office that provides guidance on records questions.

Police records and body camera video

Tennessee has a separate statutory scheme covering law enforcement recordings, located in Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504 rather than in the general access provision. We did not independently verify its current terms for this page, so this section gives you a method rather than a rule.

Ask the law enforcement agency in writing which statutory provision governs the recording you want, and ask for any denial in writing with the specific exemption cited. That written citation is what you would take into a chancery or circuit court petition, and it is also the fastest way to learn whether the agency is relying on the general Public Records Act exemptions or on the separate recording provisions.

Expect Tennessee agencies to treat open investigations restrictively, as almost every state does. Emergency call audio raises separate questions covered generally in are 911 calls public records.

Denials and enforcement

Tennessee has no records tribunal and no administrative appeal. The Office of Open Records Counsel provides guidance, mediation-style assistance and model policies, but it does not issue binding orders the way Pennsylvania's Office of Open Records does.

The remedy is judicial. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-505(b), a denied requester files a petition in the chancery court or circuit court for the county in which the county or municipal records sought are situated, or in any other court of that county having equity jurisdiction. Circuit court is an equal option rather than a fallback, and the venue follows the records rather than the office that denied you.

Records held by a state department, agency or instrumentality have their own venue rule, and it is broader. That petition may be filed in the chancery or circuit court of Davidson County, or in the chancery or circuit court for the county where the state records are situated if that is not Davidson County, or in the chancery or circuit court in the county of the petitioner's own residence, or in any other court of those counties having equity jurisdiction. A Tennessee resident challenging a state agency denial can usually file close to home.

The court can order disclosure, and it may assess costs against the public body, including reasonable attorney fees, where the denial was willful.

Before petitioning, do two things. Get the denial in writing with its statutory basis, since a written denial is required and it frames the case. And contact the Office of Open Records Counsel, whose guidance sometimes resolves a dispute without litigation and whose model policy language is useful when an entity is applying its own policy incorrectly.

This article is general legal information about Tennessee law as of August 2026, not legal advice. The statutory language quoted here was taken from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's Office of Open Records Counsel Model Public Records Policy, a state government publication that reproduces the operative text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503. The venue rules described here come from the text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-505(b) and from the Office of Open Records Counsel's public records FAQs. Current fee figures and Tennessee's body camera provisions at § 10-7-504 were not independently verified for this page. For advice about your own situation, speak with a lawyer licensed in Tennessee.

For deadlines, fees, and appeal routes in the other fifty jurisdictions, start at our public records laws by state hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I file a Tennessee public records request if I live in another state?

You can send one, but outside one 2026 exception you have no statutory right to a response. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a) opens records 'for personal inspection by any citizen of this state' and says custodians 'shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen.' The guarantee runs to Tennessee citizens only. A governmental entity may also require a government-issued photo ID showing your address, or other proof of Tennessee residency. Outside that exception, an out-of-state refusal is lawful. The exception, Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(i), in force since July 1, 2026, entitles a non-citizen to inspect or get a copy of a law enforcement record or report pertaining solely to that person, such as an arrest, incident or crash report or a citation, on a written request identifying the record, a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID and a signed affidavit; it does not reach records that are confidential by law, privileged under Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, or covered by the investigative privilege.

What are my options as an out-of-state requester?

If the record is a law enforcement record about you, use Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(i), in force since July 1, 2026, which gives a non-citizen a statutory right to it on a written request, a valid government-issued photo ID and a signed affidavit, unless the record is confidential by law or privileged under Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure or the investigative privilege. For other records, four realistic options. Ask anyway and frame it as a request for voluntary disclosure, since many custodians provide routine records without checking. Have a Tennessee resident make the request in their own name, which is lawful and standard. Use record systems that sit outside the Public Records Act, such as court, property, business and vital records, which have their own eligibility rules. Or, if the records are held by a federal agency, use the federal Freedom of Information Act, which allows any person to request regardless of residency.

How long does a Tennessee agency have to respond?

The custodian must promptly make available for inspection any public record not specifically exempt. Where prompt availability is not practicable, the custodian has seven business days to make the record available, deny the request in writing, or complete a records request response form developed by the Office of Open Records Counsel. The default is promptness, so seven business days is a backstop rather than a standard processing time.

Does a Tennessee denial have to be in writing?

Yes. The statute requires the custodian either to make the record available, deny the request in writing, or complete the Office of Open Records Counsel response form. A verbal refusal does not satisfy that. Asking for the written denial, with the specific exemption cited, is the right first follow up and it is what you would take into a chancery or circuit court petition.

What does Tennessee charge for records?

Reasonable charges under a schedule, with the Office of Open Records Counsel within the Comptroller of the Treasury publishing guidance and a schedule of reasonable charges that many entities adopt. We did not verify current dollar figures for this page and are not stating one. Ask the entity for its adopted fee schedule in writing before work starts, ask to inspect rather than copy where you only need to read, and ask for electronic delivery of records already kept electronically.

How do I appeal a denial in Tennessee?

There is no administrative appeal body with binding authority. The remedy is a petition under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-505(b), filed in the chancery court or circuit court for the county in which the county or municipal records sought are situated, or in any other court of that county having equity jurisdiction. For records held by a state department, agency or instrumentality, the petition may instead be filed in Davidson County, in the county where the state records are situated, or in the county of your own residence. The court can order disclosure and may assess costs, including reasonable attorney fees, against the public body where the denial was willful. The Office of Open Records Counsel offers guidance and can sometimes resolve a dispute informally, but it does not issue binding orders.

Can I get body camera footage in Tennessee?

It depends on provisions we did not independently verify for this page, so we are not going to state a rule. Tennessee handles law enforcement recordings under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-504 rather than under the general access provision. Ask the agency in writing which provision governs the recording you want and require any denial in writing with the specific exemption cited. Expect restrictive treatment where an investigation or prosecution is open, as in most states.

Is a Tennessee public records request the same as a FOIA request?

No. The federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, applies to federal executive branch agencies and allows any person to request, with no residency requirement. Records held by a Tennessee city, county, school district or state agency run under the Tennessee Public Records Act, which restricts the guaranteed right to citizens of Tennessee, apart from a 2026 exception for a non-citizen's own law enforcement records, and sets a seven business day backstop. The two laws share nothing but the general idea.