Legislature Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

21 Apr, 2025

‘Advisory board’ that would oversee Memphis school board would be exempt from Open Meetings Act
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‘Advisory board’ that would oversee Memphis school board would be exempt from Open Meetings Act

Legislature, Open Meetings, school boards

‘Advisory board’ that would oversee Memphis school board would be exempt from Open Meetings Act

By Deborah Fisher|2025-04-21T14:33:37-05:00April 21, 2025|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, school boards|Tags: Rep. Mark White, Sen. Brent Taylor, Shelby County School Board|0 Comments

A Senate bill up for a vote today that creates a board of managers to oversee the Memphis Shelby County School District would allow the new board to operate secretly. The bill specifically states the the new board of managers would be exempt from the Open Meetings Act and could hold meetings closed to the public. The board would have significant powers, including recommending elected school board members for removal. The House version also creates a new board, which slightly different powers, but in this bill, the new board would be subject to the Open Meetings law.

24 Mar, 2025

Comptroller’s Report: DA’s Conference has been violating Open Meetings law
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Comptroller’s Report: DA’s Conference has been violating Open Meetings law

adequate public notice, Legislature, minutes, Open Meetings

Comptroller’s Report: DA’s Conference has been violating Open Meetings law

By Deborah Fisher|2025-03-24T15:31:46-05:00March 24, 2025|Categories: adequate public notice, Legislature, minutes, Open Meetings|Tags: District Attorneys General Conference, Rep. Elaine Davis, State Sen. Ferrell Haile|0 Comments

Just days after the District Attorneys General Conference pushed a bill through committee to exempt many of their meetings from the Open Meetings Act, a Comptroller's audit of the DA's General Conference was released that found that the conference and its committees have largely been violating the open meetings act. The Open Meetings Act requires governing bodies, including governing bodies created by the Legislature, such as the district attorney general's conference, to give adequate public notice of meetings and record and maintain minutes. However, the DA's Conference gave public notice for only a handful of its meetings from 2021 to 2023. For example, its executive committee met 30 times but [...]

17 Mar, 2025

Public university payments to student athletes to be confidential under proposed bill
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Public university payments to student athletes to be confidential under proposed bill

Legislature, public university records

Public university payments to student athletes to be confidential under proposed bill

By Deborah Fisher|2025-03-17T11:31:35-05:00March 17, 2025|Categories: Legislature, public university records|0 Comments

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports on proposed legislation that will allow public universities in Tennessee to keep confidential money paid to student athletes as part of potential new revenue sharing deals. The bill requires total annualized aggregated amounts to be available, but no specific individual payments.

17 Mar, 2025

Citizens should have access to clear agendas for all government body meetings
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Citizens should have access to clear agendas for all government body meetings

Legislature, meeting agenda, Open Meetings

Citizens should have access to clear agendas for all government body meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2025-03-17T10:51:52-05:00March 17, 2025|Categories: Legislature, meeting agenda, Open Meetings|Tags: agendas, Rep. Chris Todd, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire|0 Comments

The Tennessee Legislature first passed the "agenda requirement" within the Open Meetings Act in 2023. But it applied only to city and county legislative bodies, such as city councils and county commissions. In 2024, the Legislature expanded the agenda requirement to cover state boards and commissions. This year, the Legislature has a chance to complete the sound advance toward transparency in government and require that all governing bodies that are subject to the Open Meetings Act have an agenda that is available to the public before the meeting.

10 Mar, 2025

Rep. Elaine Davis shares emotional story of trying to speak to school board
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Rep. Elaine Davis shares emotional story of trying to speak to school board

Legislature, public comment

Rep. Elaine Davis shares emotional story of trying to speak to school board

By Deborah Fisher|2025-03-10T17:28:05-05:00March 10, 2025|Categories: Legislature, public comment|0 Comments

Rep. Elaine Davis shared an emotional and personal story while talking about her bill to expand the public comment law to allow people to talk about matters that are germane to a local governing body, but not necessarily on the agenda. Davis talked about how boards sometimes restrict comment to agenda items, so when there is something that a citizen needs to bring forward, they are blocked from doing so. The bill passed 60-30 with two present and not voting. Davis recounted how the school board would not hear her concerns about the need to have a health professional at each school. The story stemmed from a son with [...]