public records lawsuits Tennessee Archives - Page 14 of 20 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

18 Nov, 2015

What we learned from a citizen’s fight for public records in Sumner County

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:14:39-06:00November 18, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Elisha Hodge, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, Sumner County School Board|0 Comments

Judge Dee David Gay reads his ruling that the Sumner County Board of Education violated the Tennessee Public Records Act because it went too far in restricting how citizens could make requests. The school district would only allow citizens to view public records if they made their request in writing through the U.S. Postal Service or in person. At a cost of about three or four college educations at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Sumner County’s school officials and school board just got educated about the state’s public records law. Sumner County parents and taxpayers paid the tuition. On Nov. 13, Sumner County Judge Dee Gay ruled that the [...]

13 Nov, 2015

Judge rules Sumner County Schools violated public records law, orders it to stop

By Deborah Fisher|2015-11-16T07:35:58-06:00November 13, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Jeremy Johnson, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, Kirk Clements, litigation, public records request, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

GALLATIN -- Nearly 20 months after citizen Ken Jakes requested to see the Sumner County Schools public records policy, Sumner County Judge Dee Gay ruled today that the school district violated Tennessee Public Records law by withholding it. He ordered the district to stop its practices and adopt a new policy for dealing with public records requests. Seated left to right: Citizen Ken Jakes, Sumner Schools attorney Jim Fuqua, school communications official Jeremy Johnson and attorney Todd Presnell listen to the judge's ruling that the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act. The school's attorney asked for a 30-day stay on the judge's order, which Gay granted, [...]

31 Jul, 2015

Judge says Sumner County Schools denied public records request, but not willful

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:14:58-06:00July 31, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: attorneys' fees, Jeremy Johnson, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, litigation, public records request, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay said Thursday in preliminary findings that Sumner County Schools denied a public records request from open government advocate Ken Jakes, but that he heard no proof that showed the district was willful in its actions. Gay said he would make a final ruling in November on whether the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act when it denied Jakes' request on the basis that he did not follow the local district's requirement that he make the request in person or through the U.S. Postal Service. Jakes had emailed his request, following up with a voice mail, asking in March 2014 to inspect the [...]

26 Jun, 2015

Appeals Court reverses denial of attorney fees in public records case

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:08:36-06:00June 26, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Alex Friedmann, attorneys' fees, Chancellor J.B. Cox, Court of Appeals, Judge Arnold Goldin, Marshall County, Marshall County Sheriff Norman Dalton|0 Comments

The Court of Appeals in Nashville reversed a trial court ruling, and ordered attorney's fees be awarded to Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News, who sued the Marshall County Sheriff's Office after it refused to let him get copies of written jail policies and contracts unless he appeared in person. (Read the ruling: Alex Friedmann, et al. v. Marshall County, TN, et al.) Friedmann wrote a letter to the sheriff's department requesting copies under the Tennessee Public Records Act of certain jail policies and contracts. The sheriff's department told Friedmann that he would have to make his request in person. "This email does not deny Mr. Friedman[n] the records, [...]

29 May, 2015

Supreme Court case will decide public access to police files

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:57:49-05:00May 29, 2015|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Janet Kleinfelter|0 Comments

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - News media organizations on Thursday asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to rule that some police records should be open to the public, even during an investigation and trial, while attorneys for the government argued that court rules put those records off-limits. The Tennessean requested police records involving former Vanderbilt football players charged in the 2013 rape of a fellow student in a campus dormitory. Metro Nashville Police denied the request and the newspaper sued, along with other news media organizations, including The Associated Press. At a Thursday hearing, government attorneys argued that a court rule protects evidence in a police file from public scrutiny until after [...]