requests Archives - Page 4 of 11 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

16 Aug, 2018

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

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-17T16:26:29-05:00August 16, 2018|Categories: requests|Tags: citizen id, public records requests|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 [...]

15 May, 2017

New laws passed in 2017 affect access to public records

By Deborah Fisher|2022-01-10T10:22:19-06:00May 15, 2017|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, Public Records, requests|Tags: addresses, audibility of public meeting, Bill Haslam, body cameras, bus safety complaints, crime victims, economic development records, electronic meetings, health care exams, lawmaker travel, police, requests by email, state parks, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. Darren Jernigan, State Sen. Doug Overbey, State Sen. Ken Yager, State Sen. Lee Harris, tax credits, TBI, TCOG news, Tennessee State Museum, vendors|0 Comments

TCOG Legislative Report 2017 Following is a summary of new laws affecting access to government information. They include 7 new exceptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act, 2 existing exemptions partially rolled back, 1 new law improving access to records in general, 1 new law creating criminal penalties for releasing certain confidential information, and 3 new laws improving government records for better accountability. 1 - Requiring acceptance of public records requests through email State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, brought this legislation after an expensive legal dispute in her home county of Sumner County where the school district refused to accept public records requests by [...]

12 Apr, 2017

5 things to watch in public records policies

By Deborah Fisher|2017-04-12T11:29:39-05:00April 12, 2017|Categories: requests|Tags: fee waivers, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, model public records policy, photos of public records, public records policies, public records request coordinator, public records requests|0 Comments

To influence government, citizens must have access to information. In Tennessee, an important safeguard to that access is the state’s public records law. But sometimes that law gets ignored or flouted, and government entities create rules or habits that make it hard, confusing or downright impossible for citizens to access public records in a timely way. Last year, lawmakers took a step in the right direction toward encouraging compliance with the Tennessee Public Records Act, and passed a law that requires every government entity in the state to establish a public records policy by July 1. The public records policies must outline the process for citizens to make public records [...]

21 Mar, 2017

Email bill passes the House 96-0

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-21T06:30:08-05:00March 21, 2017|Categories: Legislature, requests|Tags: bad players, requests by email, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. Darren Jernigan|0 Comments

A bill that would make clear that public records requesters can make their requests via email passed the House 96-0 last night. See video from presentation of the bill on the House floor. State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, presents H.B. 58, with State Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville, by her side. Jernigan helped author an amendment. The email bill was sponsored by state Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville. It was amended in committee with input from state Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville. The amendment reduces a government entity's requirements for a period of time to fulfill public records requests from people who have a pattern of not coming to view records they [...]

17 Mar, 2017

House committee passes bill allowing requests by email with some limits for “bad players”

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-17T18:27:44-05:00March 17, 2017|Categories: Legislature, requests, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: requests by email, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. Darren Jernigan|0 Comments

The House State Government committee unanimously passed H.B. 58 this week, which would make clear that citizens may send records requests by email to records custodians. The email bill also contains a section meant to deal with multiple requests to view records from someone who never comes to review them, and requests for copies for which a person never pays for or retrieves. Chairman of the State Government Committee, state Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, noted that the legislation went through several revisions, with changes from the Office of Open Records Counsel, from the bill's sponsor and from a member of the committee, state Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville. "What we have with [...]