State Rep. Bob Ramsey

7 Mar, 2019

House subcommittee approves bill to improve vetting of new public records exemptions

By |2019-03-07T11:30:00-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment

A House subcommittee approved a bill on Wednesday that would change the way legislation to create new exemptions to the public records law are vetted. The bill, HB86 by state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, will require House bills that create an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act to be referred to the House Government Operations Committee for a positive, negative or neutral recommendation. State Rep. Jason Zachary, co-chair of the Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, said in December the task of going through 563 exemptions was too large to get done in five months. Zachary explained any such bill would then go back to the standing committee [...]

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. [...]

19 Apr, 2018

Column: Lawmakers give Advisory Committee on Open Government opportunity for new life

By |2018-04-19T11:42:47-05:00April 19, 2018|Categories: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: , , , , |4 Comments

A decade ago, in the spring of 2008, the Legislature created the Advisory Committee on Open Government to provide guidance to the newly created Office of Open Records Counsel. The Legislature also gave the committee the ability to review and provide written comments on proposed legislation related to open records and open meetings laws. But for most of the past 10 years, the group has barely met. Aside from its initial whirlwind participation in setting a “reasonable fee schedule” for copies of public records, committee discussions have been so infrequent as to cause some who have attended to wonder whether even those were worth the time. The open government committee [...]

19 Apr, 2018

Bill to allow more meetings of Advisory Committee on Open Government wins approval

By |2018-04-19T10:58:08-05:00April 19, 2018|Categories: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Legislature|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Advisory Committee on Open Government will be allowed to meet more frequently and at the call of co-chairs under legislation that has won approval from both the Senate and the House. Previously, the committee met only at the request of the Office of Open Records Counsel. State Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, and Chair of House State Government Committee ACOG is a 14-member committee established by the Legislature in 2008 as part of open government reform. Its 14 members, equally representing government and citizen groups, are appointed by the Comptroller’s office. It also has three ex-officio members. The committee's purpose and duties include advising the Office of Open Records Counsel [...]

15 May, 2017

New laws passed in 2017 affect access to public records

By |2022-01-10T10:22:19-06:00May 15, 2017|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, Public Records, requests|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

TCOG Legislative Report 2017 Following is a summary of new laws affecting access to government information. They include 7 new exceptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act, 2 existing exemptions partially rolled back, 1 new law improving access to records in general, 1 new law creating criminal penalties for releasing certain confidential information, and 3 new laws improving government records for better accountability. 1 - Requiring acceptance of public records requests through email State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, brought this legislation after an expensive legal dispute in her home county of Sumner County where the school district refused to accept public records requests by [...]

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