# Public records, answerable

> Government and public records. Agencies keep records for the public on schedules set in advance, and answer requests for them on deadlines. Tabellix keeps each record on its schedule, tracks every request and release, and lets anyone verify the copy they were given.

## What gets asked: What auditors and requesters ask.

A records audit asks whether the schedule was followed. A requester asks what was withheld, and why.

- **The retention schedule.** Whether each record series is kept for its scheduled period, and whether every destruction was approved.
- **Releases and requesters.** For a request or a requester: which records went out, which versions, and when.
- **Reasons for withholding.** The reason for each redaction, who proposed it and who approved it.
- **An authentic copy.** Whether the copy a requester or a court holds matches the record the agency keeps.
- **Confidential files.** Every view and download of a restricted record, including emergency access and its justification.
- **Litigation holds.** Which records are under a hold, and proof that none of them was destroyed while it applied.

## How Tabellix answers: From the schedule to the release.

- **Schedules per record series.** Retention is set per record type, including permanent retention. The longest period that applies wins, the system proposes what is due, and records officers approve each disposition.
- **Every release accounted for.** For any requester or record: every version released, through which disclosure, with digests.
- **Redaction by two people.** A redaction is proposed, approved by a second person with a fresh sign-in, and released as an image-only PDF with its reason codes. Your exemption codes are configuration.
- **Copies anyone can verify.** A release is a sealed, signed bundle. The requester, a court or an auditor can [verify it offline](https://tabellix.dev/trust/) against signed, timestamped checkpoints, with no access to agency systems.
- **Hidden, and logged.** Users who may not see a record cannot tell that it exists. Views and downloads are logged before content is served, at the level the deployment sets, and break-glass access is time-limited, justified and always reviewed.
- **Holds stop the clock.** A legal hold blocks disposition and destruction whatever the schedule says, and narrowing a hold needs approval.

## Typical records: An agency's records, by series.

| Record | Kind | What it holds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ordinance 2026-14 | document | Drafts, adoption signed with its meaning, a scheduled effective date, and permanent retention. |
| Meeting minutes | document | Approved by signature, released on schedule, kept permanently, searchable by text. |
| Records request RR-2026-0418 | case record | The request, the responsive records as members, the proposed and approved redactions, and the sealed release. |
| Building inspection result | event record | Address, inspector, result and time, locked at capture; a correction is an amendment with a reason. |
| Contract file | case record | Bids, the award decision and amendments in order; retention counted from the end of the contract. |

[Documents, records and the evidence about both](https://tabellix.dev/records/)

## Go deeper

- [Privacy and retention](https://tabellix.dev/privacy-retention/): Keep what the law requires and erase what privacy law allows, with the audit trail intact.
- [Trust and verifiability](https://tabellix.dev/trust/): A hash-chained ledger, signed checkpoints and evidence an auditor verifies offline.
- [Security](https://tabellix.dev/security/): Deny by default, hidden existence, policy as code and a hardened platform.
- [Deployment](https://tabellix.dev/deployment/): Kubernetes in any cloud, on premises or air-gapped, qualified by its own installation checks.
- [Law enforcement and courts](https://tabellix.dev/industries/law-enforcement-courts/): Evidence and case records with sealing and a tamper-evident history.

## FAQ: Common questions.

### Can agents help answer records requests?

An agent can search for responsive records and draft the response under the staff member's own permissions. In every agent preset, only people create holds, propose dispositions and release disclosures.

### Can the agency run Tabellix on its own infrastructure?

Yes. It runs on Kubernetes in any cloud or on premises, and is designed for air-gapped networks. The license is verified offline, and the software never calls home.

### Does it work in more than one language?

Yes. Types, fields, lifecycle states, roles and audit event descriptions carry labels in each language the deployment uses.

### How does a public records vendor build on Tabellix?

Your portal and case screens stay yours. Tabellix is the record layer underneath, with retention, holds, redaction, disclosures and the audit trail through one contract over gRPC, REST or MCP, under your brand. Each agency gets its own database, keys, storage and audit trail.

## Contact

Tell us what you build and who audits it. We'll show you how Tabellix fits into your product and how it answers your auditors' most common questions.

Contact form: https://tabellix.dev/contact/

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