State Rep. Darren Jernigan

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 [...]

21 Mar, 2017

Email bill passes the House 96-0

By |2017-03-21T06:30:08-05:00March 21, 2017|Categories: Legislature, requests|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

A bill that would make clear that public records requesters can make their requests via email passed the House 96-0 last night. See video from presentation of the bill on the House floor. State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, presents H.B. 58, with State Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville, by her side. Jernigan helped author an amendment. The email bill was sponsored by state Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville. It was amended in committee with input from state Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville. The amendment reduces a government entity's requirements for a period of time to fulfill public records requests from people who have a pattern of not coming to view records they [...]

17 Mar, 2017

House committee passes bill allowing requests by email with some limits for “bad players”

By |2017-03-17T18:27:44-05:00March 17, 2017|Categories: Legislature, requests, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The House State Government committee unanimously passed H.B. 58 this week, which would make clear that citizens may send records requests by email to records custodians. The email bill also contains a section meant to deal with multiple requests to view records from someone who never comes to review them, and requests for copies for which a person never pays for or retrieves. Chairman of the State Government Committee, state Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, noted that the legislation went through several revisions, with changes from the Office of Open Records Counsel, from the bill's sponsor and from a member of the committee, state Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville. "What we have with [...]

16 Feb, 2017

With some pushback, House subcommittee passes bill to allow public records requests by email

By |2017-02-16T10:41:23-06:00February 16, 2017|Categories: Legislature, requests|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The House State Government Subcommittee passed with a voice vote on Wednesday a bill that would clarify the public records statutes to say that citizens could use email to send in their records requests if a government entity already uses email to conduct government business. The requirement would not apply if the government entity does not use email as an "official mode of communication" in recognition that some small or rural government entities may not have or use email. State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville The bill's sponsor, Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, said the purpose of the bill (HB 58 / SB 464) is to eliminate any ambiguity in the law, and [...]

16 Feb, 2016

Shorter public notice of zoning hearings draws questions

By |2016-02-17T16:31:51-06:00February 16, 2016|Categories: Legislature|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment

Update 2-17-16. I talked with Jon Cooper, Metro's law director this morning, and he said that Metro Nashville had no plans for changing the way it gives notice for public hearings on zoning changes. Davidson County, for more than 20 years, has followed its own zoning requirements to give at least 21 days advance notice of public hearings, Cooper said. It wasn't until last year during some research that it was realized that state law carved out Davidson County for a 30-day notice in a newspaper of general circulation, he said. The effort to change the statute was to allow for Davidson County's own regulations, which require more notice than required by [...]

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