Citizens should have access to clear agendas for all government body meetings

The Tennessee Legislature first passed the “agenda requirement” within the Open Meetings Act in 2023. But it applied only to city and county legislative bodies, such as city councils and county commissions.

In 2024, the Legislature expanded the agenda requirement to cover state boards and commissions.

This year, the Legislature has a chance to complete the sound advance toward transparency in government and require that all governing bodies that are subject to the Open Meetings Act have an agenda that is available to the public before the meeting.

TCOG has pushed for agendas for three years

The march toward requiring agendas for meetings has been a major TCOG initiative for the past three years after hearing complaints from citizens about not knowing what their local governing body — whether it be a city council, a local public utility or a school board — was up to.

The Open Meetings Act has had a requirement that governing bodies provide “adequate notice” of meetings since the act was first established in 1974. But the courts have ruled that the Open Meetings Act does not specifically require an agenda for regular meetings (they are required for special-called meetings), leaving some public bodies to simply post the time and place of the meeting. Worse, some put out agendas with vague items or simply “old business” and “new business.”

That is not enough. The Open Meeting Act is rendered useless if the public does not have a way of knowing specifically what their governing bodies plan to do.

Many governing bodies in Tennessee publish agendas for their meetings. Some are specific about agenda items. But not all. This is why this law is necessary.

The bill before the Legislature this year would expand the 2023 law to cover all governing bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act beyond city councils and county commissions. The bill will add governing bodies such as school boards, planning and zoning commissions, public utility boards, industrial development boards, housing boards, airport authorities, and election commissions.

Features of the agenda law

What are the features of the law?

First, the governing body must make the agenda for all regular meetings available to the public at no charge at least 48 hours before the meeting. If the governing body maintains a website, it must put the agenda on the website.

Second, the agenda must “reasonably describe the matters to be deliberated or acted upon” during the public meeting. This is essential. A government shouldn’t just write “Action on Public Contract #234” when it really plans to approve a location for a new high school, for example.

The law does allow a governing body to deliberate or act upon items not on the agenda if the body follows its bylaws or properly adopted procedures for adding items to the agenda. This, of course, can lead to trickery if someone wants to hide an action from the public. But if a governing body repeatedly adds important and consequential items to the agenda during a meeting, such patterns will be exposed as intentional circumvention of the agenda requirement.

Tennessee joins other states in requiring meeting agendas

Many states already require agendas for governing body meetings through their public notice laws, which courts in those states have interpreted to require meeting agendas. Others have statutes that specify agenda requirements.

TCOG has been proud to support and push for this legislation, which helps all Tennesseans in becoming aware of what their local governing bodies are doing and promoting access to information in enough time that citizens can become involved or contact their representatives when an issue directly impacts their lives or property.

The agenda bill is being carried by Sen. Todd Gardnehire, R-Chattanooga, and Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County. It is scheduled to be heard in the Senate State and Local Committee on Tuesday and in the House Public Service Subcommittee on Wednesday.