Public Records Archives - Page 48 of 74 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

14 Dec, 2015

Report: Fiscal impact of tax breaks kept confidential

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-14T10:14:05-06:00December 14, 2015|Categories: economic development|Tags: Brett Carter, economic development, Fiscal Review Committee, litigation, Revenue Department, tax records|0 Comments

Tom Humphrey reports in his Humphrey on the Hill blog about a report to the state's Fiscal Review Committee last week that highlights an inability to measure the cost of tax breaks because of a confidentiality exemption regarding tax records. The exemption, T.C.A. 67-1-1702, makes confidential "returns, tax information and tax administration information" and prevented the committee's staff from checking on whether cost of a tax break was accurately predicted when legislation creating the tax break passed. From the blog, "Impact of tax breaks kept confidential": The confidentiality granted state Department of Revenue records prevents legislators from learning whether the estimates used in adopting tax credit legislation are accurate, the executive director [...]

11 Dec, 2015

Vanderbilt Poll: 85 percent of Tennesseans think no fee should be charged to inspect public records

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-11T09:33:39-06:00December 11, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: fees for public records, Vanderbilt Poll|0 Comments

A Vanderbilt University poll recently found that 85 percent of Tennesseans think inspection of public records should remain free for citizens. Two lawmakers filed bills this year that proposed allowing governmental entities to charge fees, similar to the fees charged if a citizen wants to get a copy of a public record. While the law allows local government to charge for providing copies, it prohibits charging a citizen if he or she simply wants to view a government record without getting a copy. The Tennessee School Boards Association pushed for the bill, but lawmakers tabled the proposal so the issue could be studied over the summer. The Office of Open Records [...]

10 Dec, 2015

New Memphis mayor to change city’s public records process, move it out of legal

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:55:58-05:00December 10, 2015|Categories: requests|Tags: Jim Strickland, Memphis, Mike Carpenter, public records request|0 Comments

New Memphis mayor Jim Strickland plans to implement at least one of the recommendations from a report earlier this year that suggested an overhaul of how the city handles public records request. In "Strickland says changes will improve communication," Commercial Appeal politics and policy reporter Ryan Poe writes: Among his first acts as Memphis mayor, Jim Strickland plans to shake up the city's public records process, which a report issued in May said was "inefficient" and at times had perhaps inadvertently violated the law. Doug McGowen (from left), Bruce McMullen, Ursula Madden, Jim Strickland, Brian Collins, Toney Armstrong As he announced several executive-level appointments Monday, Strickland he would make [...]

2 Dec, 2015

Sumner schools will appeal judge’s ruling in open records case

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-02T15:07:49-06:00December 2, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, Sumner County School Board|1 Comment

The Sumner County school board voted last night unanimously to appeal a ruling by a local judge in an open records case where they were found to violate the law in refusing to accept a citizen's public records request. Here is an excerpt from the story by The Gallatin News: Sumner schools will appeal judge's ruling in open records case The matter stems from a Nov. 13 ruling by Sumner County Criminal Court Judge Dee Gay, who ordered the board to no longer use its policy and come up with a new one for him to review by March 1, 2016. The question of the legality of the policy arose after [...]

2 Dec, 2015

Gibson County court clerk refuses to release public documents

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-02T15:00:19-06:00December 2, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: court clerk, Gibson County, Gibson County Circuit Court Clerk Janice Jones, Gibson County Sheriff's Office, indictment, The Jackson Sun|0 Comments

The Jackson Sun tried yesterday to get a copy of indictments against 12 current and former employees of the Gibson County Sheriff's Office. But the Circuit Court Clerk refused to let the newspaper see them or get copies. She said she had not yet logged the indictment into the computer system. The indictments were the result of an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Comptroller's Office. Here is an excerpt from the story: Gibson County court clerk refuses to release public documents: (Janice) Jones refused to make the indictments available for viewing and refused to email, scan or let a reporter take a photo of the documents. [...]