state records

23 May, 2014

Hamilton County judges say privacy of job applicants outweighs Public Records Act

By |2014-05-23T15:10:53-05:00May 23, 2014|Categories: state records|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports today about an unusual move by two Hamilton County judges to seal information about applicants to that county's Clerk and Master position, issuing an order without any pending litigation before their courts. The newspaper had requested a list of applicants to the $103,795 job, which is appointed by the judges as one of their administrative duties. At first, one of the judges, Chancellor W. Frank Brown, responded to the request saying the court does not believe the public has a right to names, and media should offer the same confidentiality to candidates for the clerk and master post that it gives to victims of [...]

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15 May, 2014

Missouri media file lawsuit over secrecy of execution drugs

By |2014-05-15T17:17:36-05:00May 15, 2014|Categories: execution drugs|Tags: , |0 Comments

The issue of secrecy surrounding the source of execution drugs is heating up in the wake of some botched executions. The Associated Press joined other Missouri newspapers in challenging that state's insistence that its laws allow the corrections department to keep the source of the drug secret. Here's a rundown on the litigation in Missouri. TCOG first wrote about the secrecy of execution drugs in December, eight months after the Tennessee Legislature passed a bill to make the source of drugs confidential, along with the already confidential name of the medical personnel involved in the execution. Since then, the secrecy issue has become national. The Tennessee Legislature in the most [...]

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23 Mar, 2014

The Tennessean takes on secrecy of execution drugs

By |2014-05-02T06:46:57-05:00March 23, 2014|Categories: execution drugs, exemptions|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessean exposes the secrecy of execution drugs in a front-page story in today's Sunday edition. State lawmakers last year passed an exemption to the Tennessee Open Records Act that allows the state to keep confidential the name of its supplier of drugs for lethal injections. With that decision, it joined other states who have marched toward similar confidentiality, driven to that secrecy because drug manufacturers have refused to supply states on moral grounds. Finding less obvious sources meant the states had to agree to keep new suppliers secret. The secrecy of the drug source has been questioned on First Amendment grounds in at least three other states. Defense lawyers challenged [...]

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27 Feb, 2014

Department moves to make health inspection reports public

By |2014-04-09T16:46:23-05:00February 27, 2014|Categories: health facilities|Tags: , , |0 Comments

To comply with federal law, the Tennessee Department of Health began in 2012 posting annual inspection reports of nursing homes on the state website. At the time, the Division of Health Care Facilities said it wanted to eventually post to the state website reports from all the health facilities it inspects. Proposed legislation this session paves the way for this, say those who have worked on the bill. The health department bill (SB 1629 and HB 1425) changes language in current law to explicitly make public its annual survey inspection reports of all health care facilities and pharmacies. The health department inspects a range of facilities, including assisted living centers, hospices, dialysis [...]

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27 Feb, 2014

Bill defines DCS disclosure of child death records

By |2021-02-02T12:12:05-06:00February 27, 2014|Categories: state records|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

Chas Sisk with The Tennessean reports today of a bill that would lay out required disclosures of child death records by DCS. Such records were at the heart of a lawsuit last year led by The Tennessean. Here is an excerpt from Sisk's story. House lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill that sets new disclosure rules for the Department of Children’s Services. The House Civil Justice Subcommittee unanimously approved House Bill 1505 on a voice vote Wednesday afternoon after members raised no objections to the measure. The bill lays out the disclosures DCS must make when a child dies or comes close to death, and it says a full report [...]

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