Public Records Archives - Page 18 of 78 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

7 Jul, 2020

Judge rules Tennessee School Boards Association is ‘functional equivalent’

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-07T14:29:48-05:00July 7, 2020|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Beacon Center of Tennessee, functional equivalent, Tennessee School Boards Association|0 Comments

A Davidson County judge ruled Monday that the Tennessee School Boards Association is subject to the state public records law because it is a functional equivalent of a government agency. Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal ruled that the Tennessee School Boards Association is subject to the public records law as a functional equivalent of a government agency. "As a functional equivalent of a governmental agency, the public records in the possession of TSBA, including its training materials, communications regarding its legislative agendas, and its position statements on stated education law and funding, are public records subject to he provisions of the TPRA," Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal wrote in her ruling. (See [...]

3 Jul, 2020

Resident files open meetings, public records lawsuit against Lebanon City Council

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-03T10:08:53-05:00July 3, 2020|Categories: open meetings lawsuits, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorney-client privilege, Lebanon City Council, Lorrie Hicks, meeting minutes|0 Comments

Lebanon City Council members are facing a lawsuit over violations of the Open Meetings Act and public records law because of a meeting closed to the public, and failing to provide meeting minutes. (Photo of Lebanon City Hall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) The Lebanon City Council, despite undergoing training in the open meetings and public records law last year to settle a legal claim, must now face a judge over new allegations. "We had given them the opportunity before and obviously they still don't follow the law even after the training," said Lorrie Hicks, who filed a lawsuit last week alleging new violations of the open meetings and [...]

5 Jun, 2020

Bill would prohibit destruction of public records that are subject to pending records request

By Deborah Fisher|2020-06-05T19:41:49-05:00June 5, 2020|Categories: Legislature, records management, requests|Tags: county public records commission, Dana Beltramo, legislature, public records requests, records retention policy, State Rep. Mike Carter, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, Times Free Press|0 Comments

The House State Government committee on Thursday approved a bill that would prevent the destruction of public records that are subject to a pending records request, paving the way for the bill to move on to a possible floor vote. State Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, presents bill that would make it unlawful to destroy public records while they are subject to a pending records request. The bill, H.B. 2578, was sponsored by state Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, who explained that a problem arose in Hamilton County last year when the Times Free Press newspaper requested records, and thereafter, the records were destroyed by the custodian before they could obtain them. [...]

24 Apr, 2020

After public pressure, state releases nursing home COVID-19 data on website

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:14:56-05:00April 24, 2020|Categories: Public Records|Tags: COVID-19, nursing homes|0 Comments

In "Tennessee keeps nursing homes' COVID-19 numbers secret," NC5 investigative reporter Phil Williams presses the Lee administration on why data is being withheld. After multiple weeks of pressure and questions from news media organizations and journalists, the Tennessee Department of Health today began posting on its website COVID-19 infection rates and deaths in nursing homes. Data was released on the state Health Department's COVID-19 website showing reported COVID-19 infection rates and death rates. The health department said it would update the data weekly at 2 p.m. on Fridays. The data will be updated each Friday at 2 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the state said. On Friday, the data showed 44 [...]

13 Apr, 2020

Judge rules against Knox County sheriff in public records case, puts department under court orders

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:17:02-05:00April 13, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Knox County Sheriff, Meghan Conley|1 Comment

Chancellor John Weaver ruled on April 9, 2020, in favor of Meghan Conley, who sued the Knox County sheriff over its responses to her public records requests. In an important win for access to public records, Knox County Chancellor John Weaver found the Knox County Sheriff's Office violated the public records law in its responses to a sociology professor seeking access to records related to immigration enforcement. Knox County Chancellor John Weaver After a public records case that stretched on for a year, Weaver issued a court order on April 9 in Meghan Conley v. Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler that requires the sheriff's office to comply with provisions of [...]