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Article published Mar 15, 2009 Tennessee not putting some public records online
By Kristin M. Hall The Associated Press
NASHVILLE -- While more and more government records are available with a few mouse clicks, Tennessee still does not provide some important state records and reports for free online.
A nationwide survey of state government information online found Tennessee, like many states, has no comprehensive database for state spending and doesn't put a variety of inspection reports online, including those for hospitals, child care centers and school buses and buildings.
The survey is part of Sunshine Week -- a nationwide effort to draw attention to the public's right to know -- and involved teams of surveyors scanning government Web sites for 20 different public records.
The survey found that about half of the states posted more records than Tennessee.
Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said providing records online not only saves money on duplication costs and other fees, but it allows more transparency.
"Tennessee has made some improvements on fiscal transparency, but it is still in the horse-and-buggy days in providing information that the public needs on health and safety," Gibson said.
Gov. Phil Bredesen has said he will create a new Web portal to allow citizens to more easily track government spending, modeling the site similar to ones in Kentucky and Georgia.
A similar proposed bill, called the "Taxpayer Transparency Act," would require a free state budget database to start in 2010 and provide details like the recipients of funds, funding sources, purpose of funding action and audits.
Senate sponsor Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said he hopes the state database would encourage local governments to open up their budgets as well and provide citizens with as much information as possible.
"If it's public, then it needs to be viewable," he said.Other records that aren't available on the Internet in Tennessee include consumer complaints against businesses or what gas stations overcharge. And many states, like Tennessee, charge a fee for vital records like death certificates.
Other departments provide partial records, but finding where the information is posted online can be difficult and the information is not always easy to understand, according to the survey.
In the absence of government provided records, some newspapers in Tennessee make public records available through their Web sites, such as a searchable list of concealed gun permit holders or the salaries of all state employees.
However, the concern over the privacy of individuals listed on The Commercial Appeal's gun permit registry caused some lawmakers to propose bills that would make those records confidential or fine news outlets up to $2,500 for publishing gun ownership records.
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