State Rep. Courtney Rogers Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Legislation would require government to accept records requests via email

State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, has filed a bill that would end the practice of some government entities in Tennessee refusing to accept public records requests by email. The legislation, which is being carried in the Senate by Mike Bell, R-Riceville, says that "Requests (to see public records) may be submitted by all official modes of communication, including in person, telephone, fax, email, or other electronic means." If a request for copies is required to be in writing, citizens may submit a handwritten request or send a request by email or fill out a form, but the government entity has to provide the form [...]

Proposed Tennessee bills could close public records; a few open them up

By Deborah Fisher|2015-02-13T09:19:09-06:00February 13, 2015|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: driver's license information, exemptions, fees for public records, legislature, performance evaluations, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. JoAnn Favors, State Rep. Karen Camper, State Rep. Mike Carter, State Rep. Roger Kane, State Rep. Steve McDaniel, State Sen. Jim Tracy, State Sen. Ken Yager, State Sen. Mike Bell, State Sen. Reginald Tate, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire|1 Comment

Lawmakers of 109th General Assembly have filed a host of bills to block or hinder citizen access to public records in the hands of government. Several of the proposed Tennessee bills could close public records, while another proposes to charge fees to inspect records. The latter would set up a hurdle that could discourage citizens from pursuing records requests. The proposed fees would cover some of the time public employees spend gathering or redacting records for disclosure. Local government would determine the hours of labor involved, which leaves open the possibility that fees could be inflated to block or discourage access. While some bills affecting public records focus on making [...]