Blake’s Blog

It sounds like Memphis City Atty. Elbert Jefferson is a little hot under the collar about the state’s open records law.

Jefferson went to Nashville recently to lobby for changes that would make it more difficult for people to get access to government records. Why would he do such a thing, you might ask?

Well, he apparently thinks the open records law is too much of a hassle.

Of course, part of the reason it’s such a hassle for him is that his office insists on reviewing every public records request made of Memphis city employees, even though the state law doesn’t require that.

So he’s created a bureaucratic bottleneck for his department, then wonders why he and his crack staff of barristers are having to work so darned hard.

Jefferson told a legislative panel that once his staff had to process a request for all police reports "that have the word ice cream in it. Ice cream. This is what we deal with on a daily basis and they get upset with you if you don’t give it to them in a timely manner."

Really? A daily basis? Personally, I find it hard to believe the ice cream police report request has come up more than once.

So would Jefferson change a state law that’s been on the books for decades just to deal with one off-the-wall request?

I have a better idea: Instead of giving Jefferson the changes in the law that he wants, why don’t we all just chip in and buy him an ice cream cone?