Public Records Commission
The Madison County Public Records Commission is the trustee of the public record of Madison County government. Civic memory is found in public records, the documents that are tools of government and evidence of the actions of government. The confidence of citizen voters and taxpayers in their governments rests on the integrity of the public record. Tennessee state law recognizes this by requiring that certain records be kept for a time until their usefulness is gone and they may be destroyed; and by requiring that other records are "permanent" and should be kept available for public inspection for so long as it is humanly possible to preserve them. The Public Records Commission sees to the integrity of public records and civic memory, decides what is important enough to preserve permanently and what may be destroyed, and assures that a good public record is available for public inspection. Our Public Records Commission works hand in hand with county departments and our Archives to achieve those objectives.*
The Madison County Public Records Commission meets at least twice a year, elects its own officers, keeps records of decisions and transactions, reports at least once a year to the County Mayor and County Commission on commission activities and the state of records and archives management in Madison County, authorizes or disapproves requests from county offices to destroy original records using records retention schedules prepared by the County Technical Advisory Service for guidance, and reviews the operations of our Archives to assure the County Commission that it meets archives management standards.*
Members of the 2023-2024 Public Records Commission - Don Allen, Jay Bush, Andy Hall, Lorri Skelton, Cornelia Tiller, and Jack Wood were re-appointed by the County Mayor and the County Legislative Body during the June 20, 2023 County Commission meeting and Fred Birmingham, Angie Byers, and Ricky Long are ex officio members by nature of the office they hold:
- Lorri Skelton - Archivist, Madison County Archives - chairperson
- Jack Wood - Librarian, Jackson-Madison County Library Tennessee Room - vice chairman
- Don Allen - Circuit Judge, Divison II
- Fred Birmingham - County Clerk
- Jay Bush - County Attorney
- Angie Byers - County Register
- Andy Hall - County Commissioner
- Ricky Long - County Historian
- Cornelia Tiller - member at large
Sarah McClain, Commission Administrative Coordinator to the Madison County Board of Commissioners, is the recording secretary. Mike Winslow, County Risk Management, is the Public Records Request Coordinator.
*Source: Tennessee Archives Management Advisory bulletin "County Public Records Commissions and Municipal Records: A Handbook of Statutory Provisions, Notes and TSLA Policies", Tennessee State Library and Archives