02/01/2022 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE October 13, 2021 Session MEGHAN CONLEY v. KNOX COUNTY SHERIFF, ET AL. Appeal from the Chancery Court for Knox County No. 197897-1 John F. Weaver, Chancellor ___________________________________ No. E2020-01713-COA-R3-CV ___________________________________ This is a Tennessee Public Records Act case. The trial court found that Appellant willfully denied two of Appellee’s twelve public records requests, but it awarded Appellee attorney’s fees and costs incurred throughout the entire litigation. We affirm the trial court’s findings that Appellant willfully denied two of Appellee’s public records requests. However, we conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding Appellee costs and fees incurred throughout the entire litigation. Accordingly, we vacate that portion of the trial court’s order and remand with instructions. The trial court’s order is otherwise affirmed, and Appellee’s request for appellate attorney’s fees and costs is denied. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Vacated in Part, Affirmed in Part, and Remanded KENNY ARMSTRONG, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOHN W. MCCLARTY and KRISTI M. DAVIS, JJ., joined. Amanda Lynn Morse and David M. Sanders, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Knox County Sheriff and Knox County, Tennessee. Andrew C. Fels and Dean Hill Rivkin, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Meghan Conley. Paul R. McAdoo, Brentwood, Tennessee, for the amici curiae, Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and Thirteen Media Organizations in Support of Appellee. OPINION I. Background In August 2017, Appellee Meghan Conley initiated a series of public records requests to Appellant Knox County Sheriff’s Office (“KCSO”). Ms. Conley sought information regarding KCSO’s agreement with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) concerning the detention of suspects. From 2017 through 2019, Ms. Conley made several records requests regarding this information. Although KCSO produced some documents in response to the requests, it also denied some of Ms. Conley’s requests. On April 18, 2019, Ms. Conley filed a petition for hearing on public records request denials and access to public records in the Chancery Court for Knox County (“trial court”). On October 2, 2019, KCSO answered the petition. Pertinent here, on June 7, 2019, Ms. Conley filed a List of Unfulfilled Records Requests (“LURR”), wherein she identified twelve records requests that she alleged KCSO improperly denied in violation of the Tennessee Public Records Act (“TPRA”). These twelve requests were the focus of the trial court’s hearings on June 10, June 11, December 9, and December 10, 2019. On April 9, 2020, the trial court entered an order and accompanying memorandum opinion. In pertinent part, the trial court found that, with the exception of KCSO’s denial of the LURR A1 and LURR B11 requests, “the record d[id] not sustain that [] KCSO failed to produce any public record.” Because the trial court found that KCSO willfully denied Ms. Conley’s LURR A1 and LURR B11 requests, the trial court ordered: (1) KCSO to comply with the TPRA, specifically, Tennessee Code Annotated section 10-7- 503(a)(2)(B);1 (2) …
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