Tennessee’s Open Records Act ensures its residents the legal right to search for, get, and use records kept by government bodies, including arrest records, court case records, marriage and divorce certificates, and records of traffic violations, and this privilege extends to the locals of Townsend. This law, itself based on the Freedom of Information Act at the federal level, provides Townsend citizens with particulars associated with instances of governmental involvement, such as the addresses and names of those involved, the activities leading up an event, effects and sentences passed down, and more. These laws provide the people of America, and Townsend, the capability to examine and understand their legal rights, the precedents that resulted in those rights, and when those rights are infringed upon, which in turn leads to a more free and open society for all.