Office of Open Records Counsel Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

30 Dec, 2015

Inquiries went unanswered at Office of Open Records Counsel, audit shows

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-30T11:57:45-06:00December 30, 2015|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Ann Butterworth, legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel, which lost its full-time director in 2014, had a mounting backlog of 603 inquiries dating back 18 months in September, according to an audit by the state comptroller released yesterday. "Based on procedures performed, due to lack of resources, the Office of Open Records Counsel is currently experiencing a significant backlog in reviewing and responding to open records inquiries," according to the audit, which was performed July through September. Ann Butterworth The number of inquiries not reviewed totaled 380. The number where research was in progress totaled 223. Most inquiries received by the office come from ordinary citizens, followed by government officials and [...]

31 Aug, 2015

TCOG answers state’s 5 questions on charging fees for public records

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T08:51:27-06:00August 31, 2015|Categories: fees, Office of Open Records Counsel, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, fees for public records, Office of Open Records Counsel, redactions, Schedule of Reasonable Charges|0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel is posing five questions about charging fees for public records at upcoming hearings Sept. 15-17 in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson. Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth is gathering comments in advance of making a recommendation in January on whether the law should be changed to allow governments to charge citizens to look at public records. Following are TCOG's responses to the five questions. 1. Should the TPRA (Tennessee Public Records Act) permit record custodians to charge for inspection of public records? No. New fees would choke off citizen access to a wide swath of public records. Plain and simple, we believe that allowing government to [...]

9 Mar, 2015

From AP: Open Records Counsel says transparency panel exempt from sunshine law

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-30T02:31:16-05:00March 9, 2015|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: ACOG, Ann Butterworth, legislature, OORC|0 Comments

By Erik Schelzig, Associated Press A panel of experts assembled to offer advice on transparency issues is not subject to the state’s open meetings law. At least that’s the opinion of Ann Butterworth, who heads the Comptroller’s Office of Open Records Counsel. She made the finding in response to an email activist Ken Jakes’ request for more information about a recent teleconference held by the 14-member Advisory Committee on Open Government. “Is that not ironic that the very office that holds the responsibility of seeing that the citizens have access is involved in blocking access?” Jakes said. Jakes wanted to know more about the school board association’s representative on the [...]

19 Sep, 2014

OORC: Carter County committee appointments may have violated Sunshine Law

By Deborah Fisher|2014-09-19T09:57:46-05:00September 19, 2014|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Open Meetings|Tags: Carter County, Elisha Hodge, Elizabethton Star, Office of Open Records Counsel, open meetings violation|0 Comments

Elisha Hodge with the Office of Open Records Counsel alerted the Carter County Commission chairman this week that it appears the governing body violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act in its appointments to committees. She also noted the public vote afterward did not appear to cure any violation because it did not include "new and substantial reconsideration" of the issues. The Elizabethton Star outlines in a detailed story Thursday how the commission first directed the three commissioners from each district to confer privately to decide who would be on which committee, and to forward their decision to the county clerk. Then at a Sept. 15 meeting, when a dispute was [...]

9 Sep, 2014

Tennessee Open Records Counsel Elisha Hodge leaving post for new job

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-30T02:32:44-05:00September 9, 2014|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Ann Butterworth, Elisha Hodge, OORC|1 Comment

Elisha Hodge, state of Tennessee's Office of Open Records Counsel Elisha Hodge, the Open Records Counsel for the state of Tennessee, is leaving her post to take a new job as a legal consultant for the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, she said Tuesday. Her last day will be Oct. 3. State Comptroller Justin Wilson said in an email announcing the change Monday that Ann Butterworth, Assistant to the Comptroller, will serve as interim Open Records Counsel until a permanent replacement is named. Butterworth previously served in the position. Wilson praised Hodge's commitment in the email: "Since joining our office in 2007, Elisha has dedicated her efforts to serving [...]