Public Records Archives - Page 13 of 74 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

2 Dec, 2020

Citizen wins $78K in attorney’s fees, expenses in public records suit against Knox County sheriff
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Citizen wins $78K in attorney’s fees, expenses in public records suit against Knox County sheriff

public records lawsuits Tennessee

Citizen wins $78K in attorney’s fees, expenses in public records suit against Knox County sheriff

By Deborah Fisher|2021-01-27T16:51:19-06:00December 2, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorney's fees, Chancellor John Weaver, Knox County Sheriff, Meghan Conley, public records requests|0 Comments

A Knox County judge last week awarded $78,007 in attorney's fees and expenses to a citizen who took the Knox County Sheriff to court for violating the public records law. Meghan Conley was awarded $78K for attorney's fees and expenses. The decision is another blow to the Knox County Sheriff's Office in a case replete with remarkable claims about the office's inability to locate public records or produce even the most basic records, such as arrest records, for inspection. Chancellor John Weaver had earlier found that the Knox County sheriff had violated the public records law by denying University of Tennessee sociology professor Meghan Conley access to arrest records and [...]

2 Nov, 2020

TN Democratic Party’s public records suit over absentee ballots misfires
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TN Democratic Party’s public records suit over absentee ballots misfires

public records lawsuits Tennessee, state records

TN Democratic Party’s public records suit over absentee ballots misfires

By Deborah Fisher|2021-01-27T17:03:42-06:00November 2, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, state records|Tags: absentee ballots, Chancellor Patricia Moskal, elections, Marquita Bradshaw, Tennessee Democratic Party, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, voter records|0 Comments

Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Moskal denied a request for an injunction to force the production of data that could show which Tennesseans have not yet returned absentee ballots. Her ruling was based largely on lack of proof that a public records request for the data had actually been made. In an election eve hearing today, attorney Benjamin Gastel of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, argued that his client, the Tennessee Democratic Party, and the other plaintiff, the Marquita Bradshaw for Senate Campaign, had requested the data from five county election commissions and the Secretary of State's office. Chancellor Patricia Moskal Gastel said they wanted to find out the names of the [...]

19 Oct, 2020

WUOT reporter obtains White House COVID-19 report

By Deborah Fisher|2020-10-19T15:14:21-05:00October 19, 2020|Categories: Journalism, state records|Tags: COVID-19, WUOT|1 Comment

WUOT 91.9 FM reporter Claire Heddles demonstrated last week that making a public records request to the right person is sometimes all it takes. The White House Coronavirus Task Force is distributing to governors a weekly report on the COVID-19 epidemic. The task force does not make the reports available to the public, but they have been released in some states by local and state officials. In Tennessee, however, Gov. Bill Lee downplayed the importance of releasing those reports in a press conference last week with Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey. And the Center for Public Integrity, which has been compiling the task force reports from various states, lists Tennessee among [...]

19 Oct, 2020

ACOG subcommittee to meet on Friday to review college president search confidentiality

By Deborah Fisher|2020-10-19T13:29:07-05:00October 19, 2020|Categories: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Legislature, state records|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, college president selection, University of Tennessee|1 Comment

A subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Open Government will meet on Friday to review a 2018 change in the law that expanded confidentiality for college president candidates at state colleges. The subcommittee will meet at 3 p.m. Friday via a Webex conference call. The public may attend with this link. The subcommittee has been asked to discuss the effectiveness of the 2018 amendment to the higher education executive search statute (Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-7-154) in preparation of a report from ACOG to the governor and speakers of the House and Senate. 2018 law expanded confidentiality of finalist candidates In 2018, the Legislature expanded the confidentiality of college president [...]

7 Sep, 2020

Advisory committee to meet on legislation to limit ‘harassing’ requesters

By Deborah Fisher|2020-09-07T11:33:08-05:00September 7, 2020|Categories: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Legislature, requests|Tags: ACOG, harassment, legislation, public records requests, State Sen. Ferrell Haile|1 Comment

The Advisory Committee on Open Government will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday to discuss legislation that would limit public records requests from people found to be harassing the government. The meeting will be livestreamed and can be viewed by the public through the following link: https://tngov.webex.com/tngov/onstage/g.php?MTID=ebf38667b9ad074a64ca63d6e491c9ab1. Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, asked the 14-member committee to review his proposed bill that would allow a government entity to seek an injunction against a person whose behavior met a harassment definition outlined in the bill. Haile has worked on the bill for two years. He introduced it in 2019 and presented an amended version in February to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee [...]