The Daily Times

13 Dec, 2016

The Daily Times: Model records policy should not aid wallbuilders, suggest loopholes

By |2016-12-13T08:01:48-06:00December 13, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

We should listen to journalists in the field when it comes to access to public records. Buzz Trexler, editor at The Daily Times in Maryville, reminds me of a question I was once asked in a TV interview: What's the hardest public record to get? My answer: The record a government official doesn't want you to have. Too often, journalists are given the runaround or hit roadblocks when a public official for some reason doesn't want "the media" to have access to some public record, or want to delay news that the public record would convey. My observation has been that citizens, without the support of a media organization behind [...]

23 Feb, 2015

2 of 3 school board chairmen in Blount County see no need to charge to view public records

By |2015-03-02T07:30:33-06:00February 23, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Daily Times in Maryville asked the three school board chairmen in Blount County what they thought about changing the law to allow local governments to charge citizens to view public records. Two said they saw no need for it in their school districts, while the third appeared to rely on an example that wouldn't even apply. The Blount County school board chairman who favored allowing new fees described a situation in which the school district's fiscal administrator spent several hours writing responses for a citizen about the school district's budgets. “Each item dealt with finances and interpretation of policy, and he wrote two- to three-paragraph responses to educate the reader [...]

3 Jul, 2014

When police shoot a citizen, public records can shed light

By |2014-07-03T11:48:11-05:00July 3, 2014|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , |1 Comment

It’s not always easy to obtain public records, but when they are critical to answering questions about an issue of public interest, knowing the law and persistence helps. On Aug. 21, 2013, a Blount County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a citizen who was in his own garage. The young sheriff’s deputy was doing a property check because the citizen had reported two burglaries there earlier in the week. He shined a light through a window, saw a man with a gun, and fired multiple shots in what the sheriff later said was a “very tragic incident.” The Daily Times in Maryville kept tabs on the case, which was being [...]

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