Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Archives - Page 7 of 21

21 Jan, 2020

New legal support will help reporters fight for public records in Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2020-01-21T08:30:32-06:00January 21, 2020|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|0 Comments

Tennessee has a rich news media environment with more than 120 traditional subscription-based weekly and daily newspapers, several free newspapers, alternative press, an established black press, 34 television news stations, public and commercial radio stations, niche news outlets focused on single topics like education or the legislature, business journals, a new nonprofit news organization in Memphis, a new university-based Institute for Public Service Reporting also in Memphis, independent student-run college newspapers and TV stations, and a variety of one- or two-person digital-only shops run on grants, grit or both. All of these news outlets utilize our public records laws, open meetings laws and rights to court records and proceedings for [...]

20 Jan, 2020

Newspapers continue to play a vital role in public notice

By Deborah Fisher|2020-01-20T14:41:18-06:00January 20, 2020|Categories: adequate public notice, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: adequate public notice, Tennessee Press Association|1 Comment

When I talk with citizen groups in Tennessee about open government, people tell me they want more information about what their government is doing, not less. An informed citizenry results in better and more accountable government. But in plain language, people just want to know what’s going on, particularly when it affects their lives directly. How do people get informed? How does information about what government is doing flow to the public? And in this day and age, what methods are reliable, trustworthy and accurate? One reliable way is through the public notice laws. Government entities in Tennessee are required by law to publish public notices in local newspapers about [...]

6 Sep, 2019

Gov. Lee’s decision not to release agency recommendations raises questions about deliberative process exemption

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-06T17:41:25-05:00September 6, 2019|Categories: deliberative process privilege, Public Records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: deliberative process privilege, Gov. Bill Lee|0 Comments

A Tennessean reporter shows one of the state agency's recommendations he obtained on improving rural services despite refusal by the governor's office to release 22 state agency recommendations, citing the deliberative process privilege. The reporter, Joel Ebert, does not say how he obtained the report. In 2005, then-Gov. Phil Bredesen was planning a major scaleback to TennCare to, as he put it, "save" the program whose costs were rising exponentially. A sit-in was staged at the Tennessee State Capitol over several days to protest, to no avail. Karl Davidson, who was among the protesters, later alleged in a lawsuit that he and others at the sit-in were willfully and maliciously [...]

3 Sep, 2019

New white paper: Can labor fees be charged when a requestor only wants to inspect?

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-03T11:17:00-05:00September 3, 2019|Categories: fees, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: fees for public records, TCOG news|0 Comments

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government released a new white paper today analyzing how production fees were incorporated into the Tennessee Public Records Act. The new white paper examines opinions by the Attorney General and the Office of Open Records Counsel, dating back to 1980, as well as a 1998 Tennessee Supreme Court opinion. The paper also examines the legislative history of changes to the Tennessee Public Records Act in 2008 that resulted in the Schedule of Reasonable Charges maintained by the Office of Open Records Counsel. Finally, the paper includes a history of the effort in 2015 to change the law to remove "free inspection" of public records, a statewide [...]

28 Aug, 2019

Office of Open Records Counsel to offer free training statewide in October

By Deborah Fisher|2019-08-28T14:10:16-05:00August 28, 2019|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Office of Open Records Counsel, public records training|0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel is offering seven two-hour training sessions across the state from Oct. 1-22 on public records and open meetings laws. Lee Pope, the state's Open Records Counsel. The sessions are free and open to government employees, elected officials, media, and anyone who is interested in learning more about Tennessee’s public records and open meetings laws. RSVP by sending an email to [email protected]. The time, dates and places are: Cookeville: Tuesday, October 1, 10 am – 12 pm, Upper Cumberland Regional Health Facility, 1100 England Drive, Cookeville. Kingsport: Wednesday, October 9, 10 am – 12 pm, Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, 400 Clinchfield Street, #100, Kingsport. Knoxville: [...]