Advisory Committee on Open Government

14 Nov, 2016

Comptroller appoints new members to Advisory Committee on Open Government

By |2016-11-14T15:25:19-06:00November 14, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Six new members have been named to the 14-member Advisory Committee on Open Government (ACOG), representing six organizations. They are: TCOG representative: Adam Yeomans, Associated Press Regional Director for the South, replaces Memphis attorney Lucian Pera as TCOG's representative. Yeomans is vice president of TCOG's Board of Directors. Pera, TCOG's president, has served for the past two years. Tennessee Press Association representative: Jack McElroy, editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, replaces Knoxville attorney Richard Hollow. McElroy is the most recent past president of TPA. Tennessee  Municipal League representative: Maya Siggers, assistant city attorney for the city of Memphis, replaces Chad Jenkins. Jenkins had been the Tennessee Municipal League [...]

7 Sep, 2016

Advisory Committee on Open Government aims for body camera study, public hearings

By |2016-10-10T14:27:47-05:00September 7, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The Advisory Committee on Open Government (ACOG) took the first steps toward a police body camera study last week, discussing ideas for public hearings around the state and how it would develop broad input and conversation. State Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, and Chair of House State Government Committee The 14-member group, which is appointed by the Comptroller's Office, represents a wide range of media, government and citizen organizations and is authorized by law to provide written comment on proposed legislation regarding open records and meetings. The House State Government Committee, chaired by state Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, asked the open government committee to study the body cam issue after [...]

15 Aug, 2016

Poll: Tennesseans universally support access to police body camera footage in cases of death and injury

By |2019-09-11T18:57:04-05:00August 15, 2016|Categories: crime records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment

NASHVILLE — About 9 in 10 Tennesseans (89%) support public access to police body camera video when it records use of force that results in a citizen’s serious injury or death, according to a new poll by icitizen in collaboration with the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. The support crosses partisan, age and regional lines. The results demonstrate strong citizen agreement that such video be disclosed to the public. In addition, a clear majority of voters (57%) believe the public has a right to see video of officer-involved shootings before an investigation is finished. About one-third (35%) oppose giving the public access before an investigation is finished (8% are unsure). “While it [...]

30 Mar, 2016

Watch the video, read excerpts, from House Committee meeting on body cam video

By |2016-03-30T09:44:14-05:00March 30, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

State Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville Discussion by members of the House State Government Committee about body cam video legislation that would close access to records mostly centered on how best to avoid advancing the bill and instead request that the Advisory Committee on Open Government study the issue. See video: House Committee discusses body cam legislation. The committee clearly expressed that it did not want to move forward with a bill, with state Rep. Bill Sanderson, R-Kenton, stripping down his amendment to the part requiring a study and recommendation from the advisory committee, and state Rep. William Lamberth, R-Cottontown, at one point saying that passing any bill, even amended, [...]

25 Mar, 2016

New Tennessee law could make requesting public records less confusing

By |2016-12-08T07:50:46-06:00March 25, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, requests|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

From Associated Press: The state Legislature has passed a bill that will require nearly every government office across Tennessee to tell citizens how they can get public records. State Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, led the bill's passage. The measure first directs the open records counsel in the state comptroller's office to come up with a model public records policy that local government agencies could adopt. The legislation would then require government offices to have a written public records policy by July 1, 2017. The policy can't be less open than state law allows, and it should explain to citizens how to make a request to either inspect or [...]

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