Legislature Archives - Page 32 of 37 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

16 Feb, 2016

Shorter public notice of zoning hearings draws questions

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-17T16:31:51-06:00February 16, 2016|Categories: Legislature|Tags: Davidson County, Nashville, public hearings, public notice, state Rep. Andy Holt, State Rep. Darren Jernigan, state Rep. Marc Gravitt, zoning hearings|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 [...]

12 Feb, 2016

Public records, open data bills on Legislative calendars next week

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-25T08:27:33-06:00February 12, 2016|Categories: Legislature|0 Comments

Following is a list of public records, public notice and open data bills on calendars for the week of Feb. 16-19 in the Tennessee Legislature that are among those TCOG is tracking: S.B. 1911 (Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga) As introduced, requires the public notice of a vacancy in the office of a member of a county legislative body to be printed in a newspaper of general circulation at least 15 days prior, instead of seven days prior, to the meeting at which the office is to be filled. Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for Tuesday, 2/16. H.B. 1543 (Rep. Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville) As introduced, makes confidential the identities of [...]

2 Feb, 2016

As Tennessee General Assembly gets down to work, watch for bills that affect transparency

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T08:55:37-06:00February 2, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

Nearly 40 new bills could be considered by the Tennessee General Assembly in coming weeks that would make changes to citizen access to government records or meetings - some good, some not so good. As lawmakers head deep into the session and consider some of the proposals, they would do well to remember a message sent last summer through a series of public hearings and surveys: Citizens do not want more obstacles to finding out what their government is doing. This view is documented in a new report by Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth that was developed in response to a legislative proposal last year to charge citizens new fees to inspect [...]

25 Jan, 2016

Open government advocate named to committee to look at Legislature’s sexual harassment policy

By Deborah Fisher|2016-01-26T04:25:18-06:00January 25, 2016|Categories: Legislature|Tags: Beth Harwell, legislature, Ryan Haynes, sexual harassment, State Rep. Jeremy Durham|0 Comments

A legislative sexual harassment policy that has come under criticism, partly because it allows for complete secrecy, will be reviewed by an independent committee in the wake of accusations about state Rep. Jerry Durham that has led Republican leaders to call for his resignation. Frank Gibson, founding director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and TPA's public policy director House Speaker Beth Harwell said there have been legitimate criticisms about the 19-year-old policy and appointed the following people to review it: Allison Duke, Associate Dean, College of Business at Lipscomb; Frank Gibson, Public Policy Director for the Tennessee Press Association; Dianne Neal, Attorney; Connie Ridley, Director of Legislative Administration; and [...]

5 Jan, 2016

Commercial Appeal: Focus on police shootings draws attention to policy secrecy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-21T16:59:32-05:00January 5, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: crime records, police shootings, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, TBI, TBI files, The Commercial Appeal|0 Comments

Marc Perrusquia of The Commercial Appeal Memphis investigative reporter Marc Perrusquia provided an outstanding overview in The Commercial Appeal on Sunday of the legal exemption for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that allows it to keep files of long-closed cases confidential forever. A movement to open records of closed TBI cases -- at least for investigations into police shootings where citizens have been killed -- started last year as the city of Memphis began to grapple with the number of deaths, including a recent fatal shooting of a black teenager Darrius Stewart. The story is reprinted here, with permission from The Commercial Appeal: Tennessee not alone in sealing police investigations. By Marc [...]