public records lawsuits Tennessee Archives - Page 13 of 20 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

17 Mar, 2016

Tennessee Supreme Court says police records in active cases may be withheld from the public

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:47:57-05:00March 17, 2016|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: crime records, Justice Gary Wade, Justice Holly Kirby, Justice Sharon Lee, Tennessee Supreme Court, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that any record that is part of an active police department’s criminal investigation may be withheld under the state's public records laws. Justice Sharon Lee The opinion written by Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee gave only brief nod to the media’s role in reporting about crime and law enforcement. Instead, she said the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, which are written by the Tennessee Supreme Court, govern access to police files until a criminal case is over and all appeals are exhausted. “The media plays an important and necessary role in holding government officials accountable. Yet, the General Assembly has rightly recognized that [...]

2 Mar, 2016

The Tennessean: School board to accept voicemail for records inspection

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-02T18:28:12-06:00March 2, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Jim Fuqua, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, public records request, Sumner County School Board|0 Comments

The Sumner County School Board met last night to adopt a new policy on public records requests after a judge last year said their policy violated state law. They had refused to fulfill a request two years ago because a citizen made the request by sending an email and following up with a phone call, instead of using the U.S. Postal Service or appearing in person. Read reporter Tena Lee's coverage from the Gallatin News Examiner: School board to accept voicemail for records inspection. Also, The Standard of Hendersonville's story by Sherry Mitchell, who also got quotes from the attorney representing Ken Jakes: School board gets court-ordered policy change just [...]

24 Feb, 2016

Appeals Court denies Sumner Schools request; deadline to fix public records policy is March 1

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-24T18:28:06-06:00February 24, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Beth Cox, Court of Appeals, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, Kirk Clements, Sumner County Schools, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The Court of Appeals in Nashville today denied a request by Sumner County Schools to delay enforcement of a judge's order to bring their public records policy into compliance with the law. Todd Presnell, with Bradley Arrant Boult Cummings, representing the Sumner County School Board That means that the school district must update its policy, which Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay found to be in violation of the Tennessee Public Records Act, by March 1 or risk being held in contempt of court. The Sumner School District has spent more than $113,000 fighting a lawsuit after it refused to let a citizen see a copy of its [...]

16 Feb, 2016

The Tennessean urges Sumner school board to release legal bills in public records fight

By Deborah Fisher|2016-10-28T11:57:26-05:00February 16, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Ken Jakes, legal bills, Sumner County School Board, The Tennessean, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

UPDATE, 3/18/16: The Sumner County Board of Education has released minimally redacted records of its billing statements for legal services in a high-profile lawsuit over access to public records. But the board has not yet been invoiced by a Nashville law firm for work done since Nov. 30, 2015. Read Sumner school board releases legal bills Original story: After receiving heavily redacted copies of legal bills for Sumner County Schools, the Gallatin News Examiner, Hendersonville Star News and The Tennessean sent a letter to the school district last week, asking it to justify its redactions or provide the information requested. Reporter Jennifer Easton requested billing invoices by the law firm Bradley [...]

12 Feb, 2016

News Sentinel files lawsuit over sealed court documents in UT rape case

By Deborah Fisher|2016-06-02T11:20:40-05:00February 12, 2016|Categories: Open Courts, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: court records, Knoxville News Sentinel, sealed court records, search warrants, University of Tennessee rape case|0 Comments

The Knoxville News Sentinel filed a lawsuit today, after requesting for more than a year to inspect court records and exhibits in the aggravated rape cases against former Tennessee football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. The newspaper claims that Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee sealed records "without any petition or order to do so." The newspaper was also told that Magistrate Ray H. Jenkins had sealed search warrant records, including a police investigator's affidavit. Following is an excerpt from the News-Sentinel's story, which you can read in full here: News Sentinel files lawsuit to unseal UT rape documents: The lawsuit argues that evidence can be sealed to protect the constitutional [...]