Chattanooga Publishing. v. Hamilton County Election Commission

In this case involving the Tennessee Public Records Act, the issue is whether the Appellee Hamilton County Election Commission should have been compelled to release to the Appellant certain records relating to the Democratic primary election in Hamilton County held on May 7, 2002. The Trial Court held that although the documents were public records, they were also investigative records of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ("TBI") and thus subject to the exception found at T.C.A. 10-7-504(a)(2) of the Public Records Act. We find that the records at issue were not investigative records of the TBI at the time the request was made and that they should have been released to the Appellant Chattanooga Publishing Company ("CPC"), and accordingly reverse the Trial Court's judgment to the contrary. We affirm the Trial Court's refusal to award attorney's fees to CPC.