NASHVILLE (AP) – Gov. Phil Bredesen on Thursday signed an update of the state’s open records law that will for the first time create deadlines for records custodians to respond to requests.

Under the new provisions that go into effect July 1, records custodians will have seven days to respond to requests or to explain why they need more time. The current law sets no such time limit.

The measure also writes the responsibilities of the state’s open records ombudsman into law. That office was created a year ago when Bredesen included money for it in the state budget. But it had no official mission until now.

The law will also require the

ombudsman’s office to develop a reasonable fee schedule for extensive records requests.

Open government advocates had worried that several House attempts to change the bill – including a proposal to notify any elected or appointed official when information is requested about them – would have effectively scuttled the measure by creating a huge price tag and by intimidating citizens.

But the House changes largely were dropped and the version that ultimately passed both chambers represented a compromise between local government associations and open government advocates. The open records compromise was the top legislative priority for groups like the state chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Earlier efforts to change the state’s open meetings laws were jettisoned because the two sides remained too far apart.

The new law is the result of an open government initiative following the 2005 Tennessee Waltz corruption sting that led to convictions of five former state lawmakers.

The state’s Public Records Act says all state, county and municipal records are to be available for inspection by any Tennessee citizen unless the record is specifically exempt.

There are hundreds of such exemptions in the law, such as medical records, sensitive military documents and investigative records of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Read SB3280 on the General Assembly’s Web site at: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us

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