---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Records - As enacted, requires, by January 1, 2019, state governmental entities to promulgate rules, rather than adopt policies, to establish a process for making requests to inspect or receive copies of public records, for responding to requests for public records, and for the creation of a statement of any fees charged for copies of such records. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5."
description: "Public Records - As enacted, requires, by January 1, 2019, state governmental entities to promulgate rules, rather than adopt policies, to establish a process for making requests to inspect or receive copies of public records, for responding to requests for public records, and for the creation of a statement of any fees charged for copies of such records. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "HB 1608"
citation: "Tennessee HB 1608 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Records"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Matlock"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 38
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-01-18"
last_action: "2018-04-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/55667870-2c17-4a89-a377-162621119844"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1608&GA=110"
source_hash: "681591f74a0372c151cc44569698bbc9fe1a16b1c07be8586d0d11683a4b13d5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee HB 1608 (110) — Public Records - As enacted, requires, by January 1, 2019, state governmental entities to promulgate rules, rather than adopt policies, to establish a process for making requests to inspect or receive copies of public records, for responding to requests for public records, and for the creation of a statement of any fees charged for copies of such records. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/HB1608.pdf)

## Votes

- STATE GOVERNMENT SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State Government Committee 2/21/2018 (3) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/14/2018 (2) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/22/2018 3/15/2018 (1) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- STATE GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee 2/27/2018 — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Matlock — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-18** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-01-22** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2018-01-22** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-01-24** Assigned to s/c State Government Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-24** P2C, ref. to State Government Committee--Government Operations for Review `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-24** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2018-01-25** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2018-01-31** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 2/6/2018
- **2018-02-06** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-06** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 2/8/2018
- **2018-02-06** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2018-02-08** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2018-02-08** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 30, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2018-02-08** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0570)
- **2018-02-12** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2018-02-14** Placed on s/c cal State Government Subcommittee for 2/21/2018
- **2018-02-21** Placed on cal. State Government Committee for 2/27/2018
- **2018-02-21** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-27** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-02-28** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 3/7/2018
- **2018-03-07** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-07** Action def. in Government Operations Committee to 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-14** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/15/2018
- **2018-03-14** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-15** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/22/2018
- **2018-03-22** Comp. SB subst.
- **2018-03-22** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2018-03-22** Passed H., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2018-03-22** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0734) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2018-03-22** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2018-03-28** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2018-03-29** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2018-04-02** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2018-04-12** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-04-23** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 712
- **2018-04-23** Pub. Ch. 712
- **2018-04-23** Effective date(s) 04/12/2018

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/55667870-2c17-4a89-a377-162621119844`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).