open meetings violations Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

27 Jun, 2020

Judge: Nashville board violated Open Meetings Act by failing to provide adequate notice of soccer stadium vote

By Deborah Fisher|2020-06-29T10:55:50-05:00June 27, 2020|Categories: adequate public notice, Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: adequate notice, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, Duane Dominy, Metro Nashville, Nashville sports authority, open meetings violations|0 Comments

Artist rendering of planned soccer stadium in Nashville. A Nashville judge said the Nashville sports authority board violated the Open Meetings Act when it did not provide adequate notice of the meeting in which it approved a $192 million construction management project for the stadium. A Davidson County chancellor ruled that Nashville government violated the Open Meetings Act in 2018 by failing to provide adequate notice of a Metro Sports Authority board meeting in which a $192 million construction contract was signed for a soccer stadium. Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle in her June 25 order ruled the action taken in approving the contract with Mortenson/Messer Construction Company is void and [...]

10 Mar, 2016

Open Records Counsel notes frequent open meetings problems in annual report

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T10:04:57-06:00March 10, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Office of Open Records Counsel, open meetings violations, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|0 Comments

Some of the more frequent open meetings problems heard by the state's Open Records Counsel include governing bodies failing to keep minutes or prepare them promptly, agendas that don't clearly indicate matters to be discussed, and pre-meetings by members of governing bodies followed by votes in an open meeting with no public discussion. Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth The Office of Open Records Counsel and the Advisory Committee on Open Government is required by statute to file an annual report with the General Assembly each year. It traditionally includes the number of inquires received by the office each year, broken down into categories. It also has often included [...]

21 Aug, 2015

What you can do when you think the Open Meetings Act was violated

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-21T18:26:26-05:00August 21, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: open meetings violations, TCOG news|0 Comments

Because TCOG gets so many questions and complaints from citizens who wonder what they can do when their officials in a local government violate the state's Open Meetings Act, we've set up a new Open Meetings Complaint page on TCOG's website under the "Resources" tab to explain some options. We will continue to update this page as time goes on, and add to it as we hear from you. TCOG's aim is to try to provide helpful information on how best to create a culture in local government that complies with both the letter and the spirit of the Sunshine law. You can reach the page here: Open Meetings Complaint page. [...]

28 Jan, 2014

Applying the sunshine law – what the Attorney General said

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T16:11:08-05:00January 28, 2014|Categories: Attorney General Opinions, Open Meetings|Tags: AG opinion, open meetings violations, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|1 Comment

The Dyersburg State Gazette published a story recently about our state's sunshine laws. The story was about two county commissioners who met with the principal and PTO representative at an elementary school to clarify information about its future. The paper was told about the meeting about 30 minutes before. The State Gazette's story probes whether the meeting violated the state's sunshine laws. In addition to quoting the law about meetings between two or more members of a public body, the newspaper also quoted a 2012 Attorney General opinion that shed light on the sometimes thorny issue of what triggers the Open Meetings Act. From the State Gazette: "Although exceptions are [...]