Open Meetings Archives - Page 16 of 30 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

4 May, 2018

“Father” of Tennessee’s Sunshine Law dies at 91

By Deborah Fisher|2018-05-04T08:10:29-05:00May 4, 2018|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Sam Kennedy, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|2 Comments

The "father" of Tennessee's Sunshine Law died on Tuesday at age 91. His funeral is today in Columbia. Sam Kennedy, the former longtime publisher of The Columbia Daily Herald, served his community in many capacities, including in journalism, law and government. Sam Kennedy He served as General Sessions Judge and District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District, 1958-1965, when he helped organize the District Attorney Conference. He was elected for one term as Maury County Executive in 1992 (he did not run for re-election). He also held state roles including as a member of the Tennessee State School Board and the Law Revision Commission. But the center of his career [...]

20 Nov, 2017

Would your school board vote on a capital plan without public notice?

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T10:59:34-05:00November 20, 2017|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: adequate public notice, agendas, Chattanooga, Elisha Hodge, Hamilton County Board of Education, Hamilton County superintendent Bryan Johnson, Memphis Publishing Co. v. City of Memphis, Office of Open Records Counsel, school boards, Souder v. Health Partners|0 Comments

If there’s one type of governing body that generates the most open meetings questions to my help line, it’s school boards. So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a school board member for a moment and consider the following scenario. I hope it will provide you some ideas the next time you ask a school board candidate where he or she stands on government transparency. Instead of allowing the stock answer, “I’m pro-transparency,” how would your potential school board member react in this situation? Four months ago, the school board hires a new superintendent. He immediately faces a list of overdue capital improvement projects. Some schools need extensive repair [...]

29 Sep, 2017

Appeals court rules economic development organization subject to public records, open meetings law

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:09:55-06:00September 29, 2017|Categories: economic development, functional equivalent, open meetings lawsuits, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Dandridge, economic development records, functional equivalent, Jefferson County, Judge Charles Susano Jr., Judge D. Michael Swiney, Judge Steven Stafford, public records lawsuit|0 Comments

In a win for a group of citizens in East Tennessee, the Court of Appeals in Knoxville ruled this week that a nonprofit economic development organization in Jefferson County is subject to the state's public records and open meetings laws. The court held in Oliver Wood et al. v. Jefferson County Economic Development Oversight Committee, Inc., that the nonprofit organization, which has received between 60 percent to 68 percent of its budget from local governments each year, is the functional equivalent of a government entity and subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The court also ruled that because EDOC has a significant role in making decisions and recommendations to local government [...]

17 Sep, 2017

Two counties fail to give adequate public notice of meetings; changes needed

By Deborah Fisher|2017-09-17T18:20:32-05:00September 17, 2017|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: Greene County, Linda Noe, Loudon County, public notice, Richard Truitt, US Nitrogen|0 Comments

In recent weeks, governing bodies in two counties in East Tennessee failed to adequately notify the public of meetings in which they were taking up issues of high public interest. The lack of adequate public notice of meetings is a violation of the Open Meetings Act. The failure of local government entities to follow the law suggests either an irresponsible lack of understanding of the law or a willful flouting of it in an effort to exclude the public from knowing about government business. Both are egregious. The first example was in Loudon County when members of the Loudon County Board of Education were called to a special meeting on [...]

14 Jul, 2017

Dear Tennessee museum commissioners, the state constitution is not a relic yet

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-14T13:35:45-05:00July 14, 2017|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: free press, free speech, state museum board, Tennessee State Museum|0 Comments

This week's account of a state worker snatching a meeting agenda packet from a news reporter’s hands was a low point in the open government ethic of Tennessee. I wish it were the only one. At a public meeting of the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission, Nashville Scene reporter Cari Wade Gervin picked up a meeting packet laying on the table that contained a proposed new operating policy, including a new Code of Conduct for commissioners. She was trying to copy down information in it. Also see: State museum commission restricts speech, communication with the press The Nashville Scene reported that the museum’s media relations officer grabbed the document out of [...]