- (1) “Commissioner” means the executive officer in charge of DCS.
- (2) “Commissioner’s Designee” means any DCS employee directed by the Commissioner to perform a task in the Commissioner’s name.
- (3) “Non-Routine Copy” means a copy, whether of paper or of electronically stored data, which requires more than minimal staff assistance, e.g., odd or oversize pages, bound documents, or electronically stored data requiring manipulation.
- (4) “Office of Open Records Counsel” (OORC) means the office of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury that serves citizens, media, and government entities as a resource for issues concerning Tennessee’s public record laws.
- (5) “Public Records” are all documents, 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 DCS.
- (6) “Public Records Request Coordinator” (PRRC) is the DCS employee whose role it is to ensure that public records requests are routed to the appropriate records custodian and that requests are fulfilled in accordance with Tennessee Public Records Act and these rules. The PRRC may also be a records custodian. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES
- (7) “Records Custodian” is an employee of DCS responsible for the direct custody and care of public records. The Records Custodian is not necessarily the original preparer or receiver of the record(s).
- (8) “Requester” means a person seeking access to a public record, whether it is for inspection or duplication.
- (9) “Tennessee Public Records Act” is the statutes codified at T.C.A. §§ 10-7-501, et. seq.
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-201, et seq., 10-7-503, 10-7-506, and 37-5-112; Tennessean v. Electric Power Board of Nashville, 979 S.W.2d 297 (Tenn. 1998); Wells v. Wharton, 2005 Tenn. App. Lexis 762; and Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. 01-021 (Feb. 8, 2001). Administrative History: Original rule filed September 19, 2006; effective December 3, 2006. Amendments filed May 27, 2025; effective August 25, 2025.