Tennessee § 4-6-140 - Records of inmates.

§ 4-6-140. Records of inmates.

The commissioner of correction shall keep in the commissioner's own office, accessible only to the commissioner's secretary, and proper clerks, except by the commissioner's consent, or the orders of the judge of a court of record, a record showing the name, residence, sex, age, nativity, occupation, condition and date of entrance or commitment of every inmate, patient or pupil in the several institutions governed by the commissioner, the date, cause and terms of discharge, and the conditions of such person at the time of leaving, and also all transfers from one (1) institution to another, and, if dead, the date and cause. These and such other facts as the commissioner may, from time to time, require shall be furnished by the managing officer of each institution, within ten (10) days after the commitment, entrance, death or discharge of an inmate, patient or pupil, and the managing officer shall make a special report within twenty-four (24) hours thereafter, giving the circumstances as fully as possible. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, all inmate records and the information contained therein shall be open for public inspection. Any information contained in an inmate record that is otherwise made confidential by § 10-7-504, shall remain confidential. The commissioner has the authority to delete from any such record the name of, or any identifying information concerning, any department employee, law enforcement officer or informant or other inmate if, in the commissioner's opinion, public disclosure of such name or information would place the safety of such employee, law enforcement officer, informant or inmate in jeopardy. If the commissioner determines that a name or identifying information cannot be deleted in a manner sufficient to protect any such person, the commissioner may refuse to disclose the document in which such name or identifying information appears. Acts 1919, ch. 39, § 18; impl. am. Acts 1923, ch. 7, §§ 1, 2, 42; Shan. Supp., § 312b24; Code 1932, § 393; modified; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 4-651; Acts 1988, ch. 999, § 1. Cross-References. Confidentiality of public records, § 10-7-504 . Law Reviews. Updating Tennessee's Public Records Law (Douglas Pierce), 24 No. 5 Tenn. B.J. 24 (1988).