Public Records Archives - Page 21 of 78 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

6 Sep, 2019

Gov. Lee’s decision not to release agency recommendations raises questions about deliberative process exemption

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-06T17:41:25-05:00September 6, 2019|Categories: deliberative process privilege, Public Records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: deliberative process privilege, Gov. Bill Lee|0 Comments

A Tennessean reporter shows one of the state agency's recommendations he obtained on improving rural services despite refusal by the governor's office to release 22 state agency recommendations, citing the deliberative process privilege. The reporter, Joel Ebert, does not say how he obtained the report. In 2005, then-Gov. Phil Bredesen was planning a major scaleback to TennCare to, as he put it, "save" the program whose costs were rising exponentially. A sit-in was staged at the Tennessee State Capitol over several days to protest, to no avail. Karl Davidson, who was among the protesters, later alleged in a lawsuit that he and others at the sit-in were willfully and maliciously [...]

3 Sep, 2019

New white paper: Can labor fees be charged when a requestor only wants to inspect?

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-03T11:17:00-05:00September 3, 2019|Categories: fees, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: fees for public records, TCOG news|0 Comments

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government released a new white paper today analyzing how production fees were incorporated into the Tennessee Public Records Act. The new white paper examines opinions by the Attorney General and the Office of Open Records Counsel, dating back to 1980, as well as a 1998 Tennessee Supreme Court opinion. The paper also examines the legislative history of changes to the Tennessee Public Records Act in 2008 that resulted in the Schedule of Reasonable Charges maintained by the Office of Open Records Counsel. Finally, the paper includes a history of the effort in 2015 to change the law to remove "free inspection" of public records, a statewide [...]

19 Aug, 2019

Court of Appeals reins in state’s expansive use of investigative exemption

By Deborah Fisher|2019-08-19T20:25:15-05:00August 19, 2019|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Court of Appeals, Frank G. Clement Jr., investigative exemption, Janet Kleinfelter, Judge D. Michael Swiney, Judge Richard Dinkins, Phil Williams, TCOG news|1 Comment

The Tennessee Court of Appeals in a ruling on Friday put much-needed limits around the so-called investigative exemption that has been used by the state to cloak otherwise public records. "We hold that public records created in the ordinary course of business, which are non-investigative in nature, and which are otherwise accessible by Tennessee citizens under the TPRA (Tennessee Public Records Act), do not subsequently become exempt from disclosure because of the initiation of a criminal investigation in which those records become relevant," the Court ruled in Scripps Media, Inc. v. Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Williams requested travel, other ordinary public records from state News [...]

22 May, 2019

2019 Legislative Report: New exemptions to Public Records Act, and bills that failed or were delayed

By Deborah Fisher|2021-10-14T14:32:58-05:00May 22, 2019|Categories: economic development, exemptions, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: 911 calls, anti-slapp, college sports, confidentiality agreements, economic development, harassment, jail booking mug shots, juvenile court records, meeting agendas, photos of public records, school bus video, settlement agreements, sexual harassment, tax credits, Tennessee State Museum, trade secrets, traffic accident reports|0 Comments

Following is a list of new public records exemptions and other public record laws passed by the 111th General Assembly, plus some proposals that failed or were delayed until next year. TCOG 2019 Legislative Report (If you would like to print this, here is the legislative report in PDF format without photos.) The new exemptions add to a list that is nearing 600. Citizens can expect some bills related to public records to re-emerge when the Legislature reconvenes Jan. 14, 2020. One of the more significant bills that was delayed, but attracted a lot of attention late in the session, would create a process for an injunction against a public [...]

18 May, 2019

Hamilton County School Board, Tennessee Risk Management Trust miss point on confidentiality agreement

By Deborah Fisher|2019-05-19T10:07:30-05:00May 18, 2019|Categories: Public Records, schools|Tags: confidentiality agreements, Hamilton County Board of Education, Office of Open Records Counsel, settlement agreements, Tennessee Risk Management Trust|0 Comments

The Hamilton County School Board's attorney on Wednesday finally revealed to school board members the settlement payout amount of $750,000 to a student sexually assaulted during a basketball tournament trip. Board attorney Scott Bennett has indicated that this amount was previously confidential because its insurer had entered into a confidentiality agreement with the student and his family. There is still another student with whom the school board's insurer reached a settlement payout. Bennett has not released that amount. The explanation is that the settlement is under seal in federal court. The Tennessee Attorney General and the Office of Open Records Counsel have both weighed in on the matter — and [...]