public record

A record available to the public A record made by a public officer or a government agency in the course of the performance of a duty See also private record.

MCA 2-6-202:(1) (a) "Public records" includes: (i) any paper, correspondence, form, book, photograph, microfilm, magnetic tape, computer storage media, map, drawing, or other document, including copies of the record required by law to be kept as part of the official record, regardless of physical form or characteristics, that: (A) has been made or received by a state agency to document the transaction of official business; (B) is a public writing of a state agency pursuant to 2-6-101(2)(a); and (C) is designated by the state records committee for retention pursuant to this part; and (ii) all other records or documents required by law to be filed with or kept by any agency of the state of Montana. (b) The term includes electronic mail sent or received in connection with the transaction of official business. (c) The term does not include any paper, correspondence, form, book, photograph, microfilm, magnetic tape, computer storage media, map, drawing, or other type of document that is for reference purposes only, a preliminary draft, a telephone messaging slip, a routing slip, part of a stock of publications or of preprinted forms, or a superseded publication. (2) "State records committee" or "committee" means the state records committee provided for in 2-15-1013.

collectively or individually, is any record that details the organization, functions, transactions, or activities of public government business and that is made or received pursuant to law, resolution, or ordinance or in the transaction of official business by any governmental agency whether it be information, document, file, or database, that is created, recorded, communicated, or received in any format or medium in the course of public government business by any legislative, executive, or judicial agency, court, or instrumentality or official of state, county, or municipal government; and it includes all papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material regardless of physical form or characteristics. Also called government record, official record, state record, etc. See Tennessee Code § 10-7-301.
NOTE: It is the public ownership of the record that makes it "public", not whether it is accessible to public inspection. Some public records are protected from public inspection by laws that protect privacy and confidentiality.