Office of Open Records Counsel Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

10 Mar, 2016

Open Records Counsel notes frequent open meetings problems in annual report

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T10:04:57-06:00March 10, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Office of Open Records Counsel, open meetings violations, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|0 Comments

Some of the more frequent open meetings problems heard by the state's Open Records Counsel include governing bodies failing to keep minutes or prepare them promptly, agendas that don't clearly indicate matters to be discussed, and pre-meetings by members of governing bodies followed by votes in an open meeting with no public discussion. Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth The Office of Open Records Counsel and the Advisory Committee on Open Government is required by statute to file an annual report with the General Assembly each year. It traditionally includes the number of inquires received by the office each year, broken down into categories. It also has often included [...]

25 Feb, 2016

Bill clarifies Comptroller exemption for confidential audit work

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-25T12:15:07-06:00February 25, 2016|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: exemptions, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

An existing exemption that makes confidential audit work in the Comptroller's Office is being expanded to also include records from surveys, but won't include surveys done by the Office of Open Records Counsel. An amendment was added to the bill, H.B. 1682, in a House subcommittee Wednesday to make clear that the survey exemption does not apply to surveys conducted by the Office of Open Records Counsel, which is part of the Comptroller's Office. The House State Government Subcommittee passed the bill unanimously. The exemption currently in the statute, 10-7-504 (a)(22)(D) includes: (A) The audit working papers of the comptroller of the treasury and state, county and local government internal audit staffs conducting audits as [...]

24 Feb, 2016

Model public records policy to be developed under proposed bill

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T08:46:27-06:00February 24, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, requests|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Office of Open Records Counsel, public records request, State Rep. Bill Dunn, State Sen. Richard Briggs|2 Comments

State Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, presented an addition to state law Wednesday that would require each government entity in Tennessee to adopt a written public records policy and designate a "public records coordinator" who would be the "go-to person" understanding the policy and how things are carried out. State Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville. Click on picture to see video. His bill, H.B. 2082, also requires the Office of Open Records Counsel to develop a model best practices and public records policy that local and state government entities can use. The bill passed out of the House State Government Subcommittee on Wednesday with an amendment proposed by Dunn that [...]

16 Feb, 2016

More funding approved for Office of Open Records Counsel

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T08:48:15-06:00February 16, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Comptroller Justin Wilson, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

The Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee voted today to approve $264,000 requested by Comptroller Justin Wilson to add two positions to the Office of Open Records Counsel. Wilson told the committee that the numbers of inquiries to the office have grown "exponentially" since it was created in 2008. With one person in the office now, it can not meet the demand, he said. Comptroller Justin Wilson "The numbers really don't show the growth here because the issues have become extremely more complex, more difficult, more controversial and have a higher profile (that's) really developed in the last eight years," Wilson said. "We simply don't have the capacity [...]

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 [...]