Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Archives - Page 8 of 21

27 Jun, 2019

Chancellor refuses to find Nashville school board’s closed-door meeting with attorney allowed under law

By Deborah Fisher|2019-06-27T13:19:30-05:00June 27, 2019|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Anne Martin, Knowledge Academies, Metro Nashville school board, open meetings violation|0 Comments

Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin on Wednesday allowed a claim of an Open Meetings violation against the Metro Nashville School Board to go forward, including depositions of school board members and other attendees of the closed meeting. Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin: "... the public interest is best served by enforcing the Open Meetings Act, the purpose of which is to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the public. " Martin, in her order in Knowledge Academies v. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board of Education, granted a temporary injunction to the charter school operator who claimed that the school board's closed-door meeting [...]

25 Mar, 2019

TCOG, Associated Press, Gannett, Sinclair, others file amicus brief in “investigative records” case

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-25T17:23:11-05:00March 25, 2019|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Chancellor Anne Martin, Court of Appeals, investigative exemption, NewsChannel 5, Paul McAdoo, Phil Williams, Tennessean v. Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County|1 Comment

Several news organizations and the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government have filed an amicus brief in a case under appeal in which ordinary public records were swept into an investigative file and then deemed confidential. The case, Scripps Media, Inc., v. Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and TBI, arose after Nashville NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams requested travel records, phone logs and credit card purchase summaries from the two state agencies. The agencies denied the request, citing the law enforcement "investigation" exemption. The records, they explained, had been requested by the district attorney as part of an investigation into potential misuse of funds. NewsChannel 5 [...]

6 Feb, 2019

An early look at open government legislation we’re tracking for 2019

By Deborah Fisher|2019-02-18T19:40:25-06:00February 6, 2019|Categories: Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: body cameras, confidentiality agreements, Open Record Ad Hoc Committee, photos of public records, proprietary records, public records request, tax credits|0 Comments

Today is a bill filing deadline in Tennessee, so this list will be updated and most certainly will get bigger as we learn more. The larger issue for TCOG will be caption bills, which open up parts of the Tennessee Code that are not part of the Public Records Act in Title 10, Chapter 7, and are not yet clear that they aim to close records. We hope to find out about these bills early in the process so that we can examine the language more closely. If you know of something, please let us know! We are happy to examine and vet legislation, and share our insight on how [...]

6 Feb, 2019

Listen to TCOG on the Grand Divisions podcast with Rep. Jason Zachary

By Deborah Fisher|2019-02-06T08:52:37-06:00February 6, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Grand Divisions podcast, Open Record Ad Hoc Committee, State Rep. Jason Zachary|0 Comments

This week, I was interviewed along with state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, on the Grand Divisions podcast about open government legislation. We primarily talked about a bill that will require a review of all existing 560-plus exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. Zachary was the co-chair of an ad hoc joint committee, appointed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and then-House Speaker Beth Harwell, to consider the growing list of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act for those that need to be eliminated, tweaked, re-examined. Follow this link to hear the podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9033845/grand-divisions-tennessee-news The Grand Divisions podcast is great for anyone interested in state politics. I've been listening since last [...]

30 Jan, 2019

Update: Casada’s office says only disruptive behavior will result in a person’s removal from meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2019-01-30T12:05:07-06:00January 30, 2019|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|0 Comments

Cade Cothren, chief of staff for Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, clarified in a statement today that only someone who "actively violates House policy by disrupting the legislative process" would be removed from a legislative committee meeting. The full statement: "House session and committee hearings are and will continue to be shown on the General Assembly’s website and on public television stations across the state. If someone actively violates House policy by disrupting the legislative process — through unruly live-streaming, blatant disregard for decorum, or disrespect of members or the public — they will be removed from the area. Legislators, stakeholders, and those visiting to see government in action must [...]