Todd Presnell

16 Dec, 2019

BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, Optum file reverse public records suits to stop release of price information

By |2019-12-17T09:50:17-06:00December 16, 2019|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

Three large health care companies who contract with the state to administer the state's employee health care plan have filed lawsuits to prevent the Department of Finance and Administration from releasing payment information. They claim the release would reveal confidential price information that they have negotiated with health care providers for certain medical and health procedures -- information that they say is proprietary though the state pays the bills through its self-funded plan. Releasing healthcare price information violates Sherman Act, companies claim Laurie Lee is executive director of Benefits Administration in the state Department of Finance and Administration. Her office was preparing to release information about the state's health plan [...]

12 Dec, 2016

Hendersonville Standard: Legal bills climb to $238K in Sumner Schools public records case

By |2016-12-12T12:09:12-06:00December 12, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Hendersonville Standard recently reported that Sumner County School Board had another $125,237 in legal bills after voting to appeal a public records ruling, bringing the total cost of the case to more than $238,000. The case stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Joelton resident Ken Jakes who requested to see the school district's public records policy. He made the request by email and a followup phone call. The school district denied the request, saying their policy dictated he must make the request in person or through letter delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. From left: Citizen Ken Jakes and Sumner Schools attorneys Todd Presnell and Jim Fuqua listen [...]

16 Feb, 2016

The Tennessean urges Sumner school board to release legal bills in public records fight

By |2016-10-28T11:57:26-05:00February 16, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

UPDATE, 3/18/16: The Sumner County Board of Education has released minimally redacted records of its billing statements for legal services in a high-profile lawsuit over access to public records. But the board has not yet been invoiced by a Nashville law firm for work done since Nov. 30, 2015. Read Sumner school board releases legal bills Original story: After receiving heavily redacted copies of legal bills for Sumner County Schools, the Gallatin News Examiner, Hendersonville Star News and The Tennessean sent a letter to the school district last week, asking it to justify its redactions or provide the information requested. Reporter Jennifer Easton requested billing invoices by the law firm Bradley [...]

11 Feb, 2016

Sumner Schools files emergency motion with Appeals Court over public records policy

By |2019-09-11T18:56:17-05:00February 11, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Sumner County Board of Education, whose legal bills have now mounted to more than $113,000, has made an emergency motion to the Court of Appeals to stay a judge's order to update their public records policy to come into compliance with the law. Read: Emergency Motion for Review of Stay Order They argue that receiving a citizen's request through the telephone would require system upgrades costing  more than $45,660 and receiving requests through email would cost $22,500 annually, in addition to time training staff on how to use the equipment to receive public records requests by these methods. In November, Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay found that the school [...]

31 Jan, 2016

Judge blasts Sumner Schools for refusing to update its public records policy, denies stay

By |2016-02-02T12:26:08-06:00January 31, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Last week, Sumner County Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay unleashed a verbal whipping to the Sumner County School Board when they argued to stay his order to update its public records policy to come into compliance with the law. The Sumner County School Board wants to wait instead to see what the Court of Appeals says, and argued that allowing requests by phone or through its website would cost "significant public funds." Currently, its policy allows the school board to deny any request from citizens to see public records if the citizen fails to make the request in person or send a letter through the U.S. Postal Service. The dispute started when citizen [...]

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