Dan Johnson v. Department of Correction

This appeal involves a dispute between a prisoner and the Tennessee Department of Correction regarding historical sentencing information contained in his records. The prisoner filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking an order directing the Department to remove an outmoded release eligibility date from his records and to certify him as eligible for parole. The trial court granted the Department's motion for summary judgment, and the prisoner has appealed. We affirm the judgment because the manner in which the Department maintains its records is not a ministerial function and because the prisoner does not have a legal right to require the Department to maintain his records in any particular way.