Open Records Ad Hoc Committee

17 Aug, 2018

We need a new way of adopting exemptions to the Public Records Act

By |2018-08-18T09:16:09-05:00August 17, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , |1 Comment

Earlier this week, I was grateful for the opportunity to make a presentation to a new legislative Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee that is examining the growing number of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The committee is grappling with a potential review of exemptions, which the Office of Open Records Counsel says have grown to 563 after 25 news ones were added in the most recent session. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government made seven recommendations to the committee, but one of the more important ones is that our state needs a new way of adopting exemptions. Some exemptions don’t get enough scrutiny It's just too easy to [...]

14 Aug, 2018

TCOG makes recommendations for vetting state’s public records exemptions

By |2020-11-19T12:35:08-06:00August 14, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |3 Comments

The new Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, formed to consider the growing number of public records exemptions, held its first meeting today. The committee invited TCOG to make a presentation. Also presenting was Jason Mumpower, chief of staff for the Comptroller's Office, which oversaw the compilation of a list of all statutory exemptions (which resides here.) TCOG presents recommendations about a review of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act at the committee's first meeting on Aug. 14, 2018. You can watch the entire committee meeting by clicking on the video link found here. My presentation starts around the 52 minute mark. The committee set its next [...]

6 Aug, 2018

Legislature’s Open Records Ad Hoc Committee to hold first meeting Aug. 14

By |2018-08-06T20:08:43-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Open Records Ad Hoc Committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Cordell Hull building as part of an effort to review a growing list of exemptions to the public records act. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Beth Harwell formed the committee in June after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to Tennessee Public Records Act had grown to 538. State Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, is the House chairman of the joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, which was formed after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to the public records law had grown to 538. [...]

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