Social media archiving for Tennessee counties, cities & agencies

Tennessee: respond promptly — and within 7 business days.

Every comment, reply, reaction and post your agency touches could be a public record under the Tennessee Public Records Act. Brolly keeps the record ready before the request arrives.

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Read the film transcript

Every day, Tennessee counties connect with their communities on social media.

Storm updates, road closures, the moments people rely on, under the Tennessee Public Records Act.

Social media created or received in official business is a public record, and it has to be managed like one.

When a records request arrives, the clock starts.

If the records aren't promptly available, Tennessee gives you seven business days to respond.

Meanwhile, posts change, comments disappear.

Brolly captures social media activity automatically and preserves the record as it changes,

so content you've captured stays in the archive, even if it later disappears from the platform.

When a request arrives, you don't scramble.

You search across your connected accounts, find the records you need, and export exactly what the request calls for.

So, a Monday morning request becomes a Monday morning answer.

Built for public sector scrutiny, ISO 27001 certified, encrypted in transit and at rest,

with an auditable record your IT, records, and legal teams can verify.

No scrambling, no reconstructing, just the record ready when it's needed.

That's records readiness, before anyone asks.

Brolly, your public records, ready before the request.

ISO 27001 certifiedEncrypted in transit and at rest
US government customersCounties in Tennessee and Georgia
No archive volume capsUnlimited storage
Request-ready exportsMetadata and integrity evidence intact
The Deadline

A request lands Monday morning.
What happens next?

Hover each day to see where manual methods lose the week.

1Request inA citizen asks for every post and comment about the road closure — including anything deleted.
2ScopingWhich accounts? Which platforms? Which date range? The inventory alone takes a day.
3SearchingManual trawling across Facebook, X and Instagram begins.
4ReviewingScreenshots have no metadata. Platform exports miss comments. Gaps appear.
5RedactingExempt material needs review — but the record set still isn't complete.
6CompilingFormats don't match. The deleted reply that matters most is simply gone.
7DueThe statutory window closes. Silence or indefinite delay is itself a violation.
With Brolly, days 2–6 become one afternoon — a Monday-morning request can be a Monday-morning answer.
The Law

Why compliance matters in Tennessee.

Social media content created or received in the course of official business is legally considered a public record in Tennessee. Three authorities define your obligation:

Statute

Tennessee Public Records Act

T.C.A. § 10-7-101 et seq. — defines public records broadly, extending to posts, comments, replies, reactions, edits, deletions, and shared images or videos created or received in the course of official business.

Under § 10-7-503, records must be made available promptly — and within 7 business days your agency must produce them, deny with a legal basis, or provide a reasonable timeframe in writing.

Oversight

Office of Open Records Counsel

The OORC reinforces the obligation — social media activity on behalf of a county, city or public agency must be preserved and produced upon request — and it fields citizen complaints without a lawsuit ever being filed.

Transparency

Tennessee Open Meetings Act

The “Sunshine Law” requires that governing-body deliberations happen in the open. When members discuss public business in comment threads, a defensible social media archive helps demonstrate the business stayed in the sunshine.

Scope

What you must be able to produce

Everything below, with metadata and timestamps intact — including content edited or deleted after posting:

PostsComments & repliesReactionsEditsDeletionsImages & videoDirect messages

Manual methods vs. Brolly

What your agency needs
Screenshots & exports
Brolly
Capture comments & replies as they happen
Only what staff remember to save
Automatic, every channel, 24/7
Preserve edits & deletions
Gone before anyone notices
Full version history retained
Metadata, timestamps & checksums
Stripped by screenshots
Complete chain of custody
Respond inside 7 business days
Days of cross-platform scrambling
Saved search → export in minutes
Defensible in court or under audit
Unverifiable provenance
Immutable records + audit logs
See It In Action

The record is already there.

“A delight to use,” says one verified G2 review — this is the screen your records officer gets: search the archive, open the record, step through every captured version, and export.

One post, start to finish

One official update. Its captured history beside it.

This is how simple it is in Brolly: the original post, its edited versions and the surrounding public comments, reviewed together. Shown with fictional demonstration data.

01
Your agency publishes

A connected official account posts an emergency update as the situation develops.

02
The post is edited

Opening time and access details change — each captured version is retained with its timestamp.

03
A request arrives

Your team searches, reviews the chronology and exports it — checksums, audit logs and chain of custody attached.

Brolly Archive

Archive feed

Captured posts and conversations from connected accounts

All networksAll accountsAll dates12 captured posts
4281.2k
86244.1k
Edited
61122.8k
Post Inspector
3 versions
Storm shelter update: The community center opens at 8 p.m. 6 p.m. tonight. Bring ID and essential medication. Accessible entrance on Cedar Street.
♡ 86　◯ 24　◉ 4.1k　◉ 6.7k
Demonstration export prepared

Access control & audit logs

Clerks, counsel and records officers each get the access they need — and every export is logged.

Images, video & links

Media and link previews are captured with the post, so the record shows what residents actually saw.

Structured exports

PDF, CSV, HTML or JSON with timestamps and checksums attached — ready for a requester or counsel.

Free download Tennessee — Archiving Social Media: A Guide For Government
The Guide

Download the free Tennessee
Social Media Legislation Guide.

Social media comes with legal responsibilities. This free guide brings together the key federal and Tennessee legislation in one easy-to-read reference — helping your agency understand its obligations and manage social media records with confidence.

Federal & Tennessee legislation, side by side Public records obligations explained in plain English Bonus compliance checklist inside Updated August 2026
Download now

PDF · no credit card · straight to your inbox

Built For

Every Tennessee public body.

A Tennessee county courthouse with clock tower

Counties

Sheriff's offices, clerks, mayors, highway departments, election commissions — every official account, one archive.

  • County-wide multi-account capture
  • PRRC-ready export workflows
  • Retention aligned to county schedules
A fire engine in a city fire station

Cities & Municipalities

From metro communications teams to a single town clerk running two Facebook pages — sized and priced accordingly.

  • Police, fire, parks, utilities covered
  • Emergency-communication preservation
  • Setup in minutes
A utility crew restoring service from a bucket truck

Public Agencies

School districts, utility districts, transit authorities, housing authorities and boards — all subject to the TPRA.

  • Board & superintendent accounts
  • Public comment threads on record
  • Request-ready exports on demand
The Reference Layer

Asked by clerks, PRRCs and county attorneys.

Plain-English answers with statutory citations — the details your counsel will ask about. General information, not legal advice.

The obligation

Is social media really covered by the Tennessee Public Records Act?
Yes. The TPRA (T.C.A. § 10-7-101 et seq.) defines public records broadly — content made or received in connection with the transaction of official business — and social media activity on behalf of a county, city or public agency falls within that definition. The Office of Open Records Counsel reinforces this obligation.
What exactly does the 7-business-day rule require?
Under T.C.A. § 10-7-503, records must be made available promptly. When that isn’t practicable, your agency must within seven business days: produce the records, deny the request citing a legal basis, or provide a written statement of the time reasonably necessary to produce them. Silence or indefinite delay is itself a violation.
What happens if we can’t produce a requested record?
A requester can petition a court for access under T.C.A. § 10-7-505 — and if a court finds the refusal willful, the entity can be ordered to pay the requester’s costs and attorney fees. Records that were edited or deleted before anyone captured them can’t be produced at all, which is why capture has to precede the request.
How does the Open Meetings Act relate to our social media?
The Act applies when members of a governing body convene or deliberate toward a decision — including electronically. Ordinary resident comments are not an open meeting. But when members discuss public business in comment threads, a defensible archive documents that the deliberation happened in the open.

What counts as a record

Do citizen comments on our Facebook posts count?
Generally yes — records “received” in the course of official business are within TPRA scope, including comments that citizens later delete. That’s why capture must happen in real time, not at request time.
Do edited or deleted posts still have to be produced?
A record doesn’t stop being a record because it was edited or removed from the live page. If it was made or received in official business, the obligation attaches when it’s created — each captured version, with its timestamps, is part of what your agency may need to produce.
Can direct messages be public records?
They can. The TPRA’s definition follows the content and context — not the channel — so a message sent or received in the course of official business can fall within scope even in a private inbox. Whether specific messages are producible or exempt is a determination for your counsel.
What about an official’s personal account?
Content follows function, not the account label: a personal account used to conduct official business can create public records. The safest policy routes official business through official accounts — and keeps those accounts on record.
Which platforms does Brolly archive?
Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok — captured automatically through official platform APIs from connected accounts.

Responding to a request

How long do we have to keep social media records?
Retention periods come from the records disposition authorities approved for your entity type — MTAS and CTAS publish schedules for Tennessee municipalities and counties. Brolly retains records for the period you configure, so your archive matches your approved schedule.
What if part of a record is confidential?
The TPRA’s exceptions still apply — denial requires a stated legal basis, and confidential portions can be redacted before production. Brolly supports capture, access control, search and export; your agency and counsel determine classification, redaction and disclosure.
We already take screenshots. Isn’t that enough?
No. Screenshots miss metadata, timestamps, edit history and deletions — and can’t prove they haven’t been altered. Brolly’s records carry digital checksums and chain-of-custody logs designed to survive legal scrutiny.

Using Brolly

Who in our organization uses Brolly?
Typically your PRRC, clerk or records staff handle search and export; communications teams use capture day-to-day; county attorneys pull audit logs when litigation or OORC inquiries arise.
How quickly can a Tennessee agency get started?
Setup takes minutes: connect your accounts, confirm retention settings, and capture begins immediately. There’s a free trial, and pricing scales from single-clerk towns to county-wide deployments.
Will Brolly pass our procurement and security review?
Brolly is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified and CSA STAR registered, with controls aligned to NIST SP 800-53. Records are encrypted in transit and at rest, stored immutably, and covered by complete audit trails.

Primary sources: Office of Open Records Counsel · T.C.A. Title 10, Chapter 7 · MTAS

Trusted by government

Compliance made easy.
Insights made actionable.
Communities made safer.
That’s Brolly.

Purpose-built for government. Trusted by teams that protect and serve.

5.0 out of 5 starsRated on G2 by verified users
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“Brolly: The total package for documentation and archiving.”

Brolly is a vital tool for our organization and is the total package for documentation and archiving needs.

From a verified G2 review — Verified User in US Government Administration
Trust

Security your procurement team can sign off on.

Brolly is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified and CSA STAR registered, with controls aligned to NIST SP 800-53. Records are encrypted in transit and at rest, stored immutably, and covered by complete audit trails.

Visit the Trust & Security Center
ISO/IEC 27001:2022Certified information security management system.
CSA STAR registeredListed on the Cloud Security Alliance STAR registry.
NIST SP 800-53 alignedControls aligned for public-sector security review.
Encrypted everywhereAES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit.
99.9% uptime SLAAvailability commitment in the service agreement.
MFA & role-based accessAccess scoped to your team, with complete audit trails.

Explore more US public records guides

State-by-state guidance on social media archiving laws for government agencies.

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See how easy TPRA compliance can be.

Every day your public sector organization communicates on social media, you're creating public records. Are you confident you could produce them tomorrow?

Comply with TPRA & OORC requirements Protect against reputational & legal risk Deliver faster, more efficient public service

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