public records lawsuits Tennessee Archives - Page 9 of 20 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

6 Aug, 2018

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

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:46:08-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Chancellor Russell Perkins, Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, emails, Glenn Funk, Jason Locke, NewsChannel 5, Phil Williams, Ron Harris, TBI, Tennessean v. Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, travel records|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 [...]

15 Jun, 2018

Are addresses and phone numbers in accident reports confidential?

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:31:06-06:00June 15, 2018|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorney's fees, Bradley Jetmore, Doug Pierce, Memphis, traffic accident reports|0 Comments

Are address and phone numbers in accident reports confidential? A Memphis judge on June 6 said no in Bradley Jetmore v. City of Memphis, affirming that such information is public record and should be accessible to the public. The case originated after the City of Memphis in November 2017 stopped allowing public access to the reports and specifically to the driver information in the report. Doug Pierce with King & Ballow Memphis, like other cities, have for years provided public access to accident reports. But in October 2017, it was sued in federal court (Price v. City of Memphis), alleging that it was violating the federal Driver Privacy Protection [...]

15 Jun, 2018

Column: Opioid trial must be completely open

By Deborah Fisher|2018-06-15T10:58:41-05:00June 15, 2018|Categories: Open Courts, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Deborah Fisher, Herbert Slatery, Jack McElroy, OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, Rick Hollow, TCOG news|0 Comments

An OxyContin tablet. Purdue Pharma, who makes OxyContin, has asked for a protective order in a Knoxville circuit court to keep concealed some details of allegations by the state of Tennessee that it violated a 2007 court order and the state's consumer protection laws. In 2007, the state of Tennessee and 25 other states reached a $19.5 million settlement agreement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, who they alleged was violating consumer laws in the marketing of their cash cow opioid drug. Among other allegations, the states said Purdue engaged in illegal marketing and downplayed the risks of addiction. Tennessee’s portion of the settlement was about $720,000. Kentucky [...]

16 Oct, 2017

Delaying access to public records violates law, appeals court rules

By Deborah Fisher|2020-04-09T09:09:02-05:00October 16, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Bradley Jetmore, Doug Pierce, Judge Andy Bennett, Metro Nashville, promptly, public records request, traffic accident reports|1 Comment

Government entities cannot ignore the requirement in the Tennessee Public Records Act to provide access to records promptly and still be in compliance with the law, according to an appellate court ruling last week in Jetmore v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett In the opinion delivered by Judge Andy D. Bennett, the court upheld a trial court's finding against the Metro Nashville Police Department, which had limited the number of traffic accident reports it would provide a requester to three a day. The appellate court also upheld the award of attorney's fees to the requester who brought the lawsuit, saying [...]

29 Sep, 2017

Appeals court rules economic development organization subject to public records, open meetings law

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:09:55-06:00September 29, 2017|Categories: economic development, functional equivalent, open meetings lawsuits, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Dandridge, economic development records, functional equivalent, Jefferson County, Judge Charles Susano Jr., Judge D. Michael Swiney, Judge Steven Stafford, public records lawsuit|0 Comments

In a win for a group of citizens in East Tennessee, the Court of Appeals in Knoxville ruled this week that a nonprofit economic development organization in Jefferson County is subject to the state's public records and open meetings laws. The court held in Oliver Wood et al. v. Jefferson County Economic Development Oversight Committee, Inc., that the nonprofit organization, which has received between 60 percent to 68 percent of its budget from local governments each year, is the functional equivalent of a government entity and subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The court also ruled that because EDOC has a significant role in making decisions and recommendations to local government [...]