Public Records

16 Aug, 2018

Why requiring a driver’s license to look at public records is often a waste of time and money

By |2018-08-17T16:26:29-05:00August 16, 2018|Categories: requests|Tags: , |0 Comments

Requiring a driver's license as an unbending condition to access public records is like hunting dragonflies with a shotgun. It’s overkill. And a little silly. Requiring a citizen to produce identification is almost always unnecessary yet it most certainly increases the chance that access to public records will be delayed. It also is a rule that is easy for a government official to abuse to blunt prompt access to public information. The law clearly does not require that a government entity require that a citizen provide identification proving who they are to access public records. The law allows that a government entity may require proof of Tennessee residency, presumably because [...]

14 Aug, 2018

TCOG makes recommendations for vetting state’s public records exemptions

By |2020-11-19T12:35:08-06:00August 14, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |3 Comments

The new Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, formed to consider the growing number of public records exemptions, held its first meeting today. The committee invited TCOG to make a presentation. Also presenting was Jason Mumpower, chief of staff for the Comptroller's Office, which oversaw the compilation of a list of all statutory exemptions (which resides here.) TCOG presents recommendations about a review of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act at the committee's first meeting on Aug. 14, 2018. You can watch the entire committee meeting by clicking on the video link found here. My presentation starts around the 52 minute mark. The committee set its next [...]

6 Aug, 2018

Legislature’s Open Records Ad Hoc Committee to hold first meeting Aug. 14

By |2018-08-06T20:08:43-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Open Records Ad Hoc Committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Cordell Hull building as part of an effort to review a growing list of exemptions to the public records act. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Beth Harwell formed the committee in June after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to Tennessee Public Records Act had grown to 538. State Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, is the House chairman of the joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, which was formed after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to the public records law had grown to 538. [...]

6 Aug, 2018

NewsChannel 5 files suit after denied access to Jason Locke travel reimbursement records

By |2018-08-06T08:46:08-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

NewsChannel 5 has filed a public records lawsuit after it was denied access to travel reimbursement and phone records related to former acting TBI director Jason Locke's alleged affair with another state official. Jason Locke, former acting director of the TBI. A public records request for his travel reimbursements was denied on the basis that Locke was under criminal investigation. Locke is being investigated for misuse of state funds during an affair with another state official. The Nashville news station's chief investigative reporter Phil Williams also was denied access to email communications between Locke and the official, Sejal West, who was the deputy commission of the Tennessee Department of [...]

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