Stacy Case with Fox 17 WZTV Nashville interviewed the Rutherford County orthodontist who recently was awarded $31,000 in attorney’s fees after suing the Rutherford County Board of Education for withholding records.
The story on the open records lawsuit is part of the station’s “Waste Watch” series. Fox 17 reports that Tracy Pack was trying to find out how a school principal was spending fund-raising money meant for students. A Murfreesboro judge recently ruled that the response of the school district to the citizen’s request for public records was such that Pack was forced to hire an attorney and sue to gain access.
Under the Open Records Act, a citizen can file a lawsuit if not given access to public records according to the act’s provisions. If a judge finds the government body to have been “willful” in denying records, the citizen can be awarded attorney’s fees.
