adequate public notice

11 Feb, 2016

Bill shortens public notice for zoning changes in Nashville

By |2016-02-11T08:22:48-06:00February 11, 2016|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

A bill that would shorten the amount of time of public notice for public hearings on zoning changes in Metropolitan Nashville passed unanimously in a key Senate committee and a House subcommittee this week. The bill, S.B. 1809 / H.B. 1848, would change the law that requires Davidson County to provide 30 days public notice prior to a public hearing on an amendment to a county zoning ordinance. It reduces that time to 15 days. Davidson County is the only county in the state required by law to give a 30-day notice, a point made by Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, the bill’s Senate sponsor. “I would classify this as a cleanup [...]

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31 Jul, 2014

Cumberland County improves meeting notices

By |2014-07-31T07:47:04-05:00July 31, 2014|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

One of the most common complaints I get from citizens in towns across Tennessee is that their public officials do not give them adequate notice of upcoming public meetings. It always surprises me to see this problem: County commissioners, utility boards or school boards who post a time and place for their meetings on a bulletin board in a government building, maybe on their website, maybe in their local newspaper, but  probably without an agenda, and most often without the agenda packet that contains all the background. How can we expect citizens to be interested in our government if we treat them like they have no interest? It's at the [...]

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3 Jun, 2014

Elizabethton Star: School system may have violated Open Meetings Act

By |2019-09-11T18:48:24-05:00June 3, 2014|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Elizabethton Star reported today that the Carter County Board of Education may have violated the state's Sunshine Law by not giving adequate notice of a special called meeting where it decided to sue the city of Elizabethton. The director of schools told the newspaper that it did not advertise the meeting, but posted it at its office and notified a news reporter. The reporter said she received no communication from the school district. But Rick Hollow, attorney for the Tennessee Press Association, said even if she had, the actions by the school board still would not have constituted adequate public notice.

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29 May, 2014

News-Sentinel: Adequate public notice of meeting at issue in Loudon County

By |2014-05-29T14:19:07-05:00May 29, 2014|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel told Louden  County it appears to have violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act when it held a budget committee meeting earlier this month without giving adequate public notice. A local activist filed the complaint with the office, triggering the review and a letter to the county. Here is a copy of the Knoxville News-Sentinel story, reprinted with permission: By Hugh G. Willett Wednesday, May 28, 2014 LOUDON — A meeting of the Loudon County salary and budget committee earlier this month may have been held in violation of the state open meetings law, according to the state comptroller’s office. During the meeting, which was [...]

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9 Apr, 2014

Commercial Appeal reports possible open meetings violations by a charter school

By |2019-09-11T16:17:10-05:00April 9, 2014|Categories: adequate public notice, school boards|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment

The Commercial Appeal reports today on possible open meetings violations by a charter school, the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences. The potential violations came during two meetings, one in which the charter school board voted to make board chairman Derrick Joyce the interim executive director. Board member Dionysia Smith-Richardson told The Commercial Appeal that there was not public notice of the two board meetings in January, including one called as a special emergency board meeting, and they were not held in compliance with the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. Public charter schools by law are subject to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, which requires adequate public notice of meetings. Smith-Richardson also [...]

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