Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Archives - Page 10 of 21

17 Aug, 2018

We need a new way of adopting exemptions to the Public Records Act

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-18T09:16:09-05:00August 17, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: caption bills, exemptions, Open Records Ad Hoc Committee|1 Comment

Earlier this week, I was grateful for the opportunity to make a presentation to a new legislative Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee that is examining the growing number of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The committee is grappling with a potential review of exemptions, which the Office of Open Records Counsel says have grown to 563 after 25 news ones were added in the most recent session. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government made seven recommendations to the committee, but one of the more important ones is that our state needs a new way of adopting exemptions. Some exemptions don’t get enough scrutiny It's just too easy to [...]

14 Aug, 2018

TCOG makes recommendations for vetting state’s public records exemptions

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:35:08-06:00August 14, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: exemptions, Jason Mumpower, Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, TCOG news|3 Comments

The new Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, formed to consider the growing number of public records exemptions, held its first meeting today. The committee invited TCOG to make a presentation. Also presenting was Jason Mumpower, chief of staff for the Comptroller's Office, which oversaw the compilation of a list of all statutory exemptions (which resides here.) TCOG presents recommendations about a review of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act at the committee's first meeting on Aug. 14, 2018. You can watch the entire committee meeting by clicking on the video link found here. My presentation starts around the 52 minute mark. The committee set its next [...]

6 Aug, 2018

Three state agencies file hearing notice for public records rules; one bans photos

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T12:27:43-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, fee waivers, fees for public records, photos of public records, public records request, public records rules, TennCare|0 Comments

Three Tennessee state agencies have upcoming public hearings on proposed public records rules. Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 500 Deaderick Street, Ground Floor Room G.227. Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 30 at the Tennessee Room, 220 French Landing Drive, 1-A. Division of Tenncare, Department of Finance and Administration, 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 310 Great Circle Road, Conference Room 1 East A. In advance of public hearings, three state agencies have published their proposed rules on accessing public records. (Illustration by CC BY-SA 3.0 by Nick Youngson) Each of the agencies is proposing rules that [...]

6 Aug, 2018

TCOG founder Frank Gibson named to Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame

By Deborah Fisher|2019-06-19T08:34:48-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Frank Gibson|0 Comments

Frank Gibson, longtime Tennessee journalist and open records advocate, will be among seven people inducted into the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame tomorrow night. Frank Gibson Gibson, while working at The Tennessean in 2003, founded Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and became its first executive director. Gibson was a longtime reporter and political editor for the Nashville newspaper, working there 37 years. With the encouragement of then-editor John Seigenthaler, Gibson became active in freedom of information activities with the Society of Professional Journalists, serving as the lead person for FOI issues in the state for several years. In 2003, he worked with others to form Tennessee Coalition for [...]

5 Jul, 2018

State’s lawsuit against Purdue Pharma – unsealed

By Deborah Fisher|2018-07-12T11:54:13-05:00July 5, 2018|Categories: court records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|0 Comments

Detailed data in the state's opioid lawsuit illustrate how Purdue Pharma continued to push its most profitable drug OxyContin to high-volume providers in Tennessee despite evidence that those providers were misusing or allowing misuse of the drug, according to the state's unsealed court filing. An OxyContin tablet In one instance, Purdue called on two providers 48 times after being flagged by law enforcement; in another case, Purdue made sales calls 31 times to a provider whose license was on probation because of issues related to his high prescribing of controlled substances. The lawsuit references a wealth of evidence collected by the state to back its allegations that Purdue [...]