News - Page 29 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

24 Apr, 2020

In-person court proceedings can resume with certain safeguards and approval

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:15:55-05:00April 24, 2020|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: courts, COVID-19, Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins|1 Comment

In what seems to be becoming a pattern with big announcements, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee shared news of the order first on twitter on Friday morning. The order was posted on the court's website a few hours later. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order today modifying its earlier suspension of in-person court proceedings, providing a pathway for in-person court proceedings to resume. The court on March 13 declared a state of emergency for the judicial branch of government in Tennessee, and suspended most in-person court proceedings with some exceptions. (The order was updated March 25.) "Since that time, the State of Tennessee and its citizens have made [...]

13 Apr, 2020

Judge rules against Knox County sheriff in public records case, puts department under court orders

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:17:02-05:00April 13, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Knox County Sheriff, Meghan Conley|1 Comment

Chancellor John Weaver ruled on April 9, 2020, in favor of Meghan Conley, who sued the Knox County sheriff over its responses to her public records requests. In an important win for access to public records, Knox County Chancellor John Weaver found the Knox County Sheriff's Office violated the public records law in its responses to a sociology professor seeking access to records related to immigration enforcement. Knox County Chancellor John Weaver After a public records case that stretched on for a year, Weaver issued a court order on April 9 in Meghan Conley v. Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler that requires the sheriff's office to comply with provisions of [...]

10 Apr, 2020

New law corrects language in public records act regarding redaction

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T14:41:48-05:00April 10, 2020|Categories: Legislature|Tags: redactions|0 Comments

One of the few bills that passed in the final days before the Tennessee General Assembly recessed in March was a bill that corrected a mistake in the drafting of a public records exemption in 2002. State Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on March 25 and effective immediately, deletes the language "subsection (a)" where it appears in T.C.A. § 10-7-504 (a)(20) and replaces it with "subdivision (a)(20)". The exemption deals with confidentiality of municipal utility records. The bill clarified that the provisions in this particular subdivision only apply to the municipal utility records made confidential in subdivision T.C.A. § 10-7-504 (a)(20) [...]

10 Apr, 2020

Campaign finance board’s secret email votes could set dangerous precedent

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:18:35-05:00April 10, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Bill Young, email vote, Registry of Election Finance|1 Comment

It's been more than a week since the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance Board voted secretly by email to reduce the civil penalties against a Memphis state representative by more than $44,000 in a last-minute decision to try to clear him to file for re-election. The vote appears to violate the Open Meetings law, which says: "All votes of any such governmental body shall be by public vote or public ballot or public roll call. No secret votes, or secret ballots, or secret roll calls shall be allowed." [T.C.A. 8-44-104(b)] State Rep. Joe Towns, D-Memphis, had accumulated $65,000 in civil penalties for failing to file campaign finance disclosures over several [...]

9 Apr, 2020

Memphis ordered to pay attorney’s fees for violating public records law over traffic accident reports

By Deborah Fisher|2020-04-09T12:54:36-05:00April 9, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorney's fees, Bradley Jetmore, Doug Pierce, Memphis, traffic accident reports|1 Comment

Memphis and Nashville have both lost public records lawsuits over the past two years in which they were found to willfully violate the public records law in not releasing traffic accident report information or delaying release. Combined, the cities had to pay more than $234,690 in attorney's fees and court costs to Bradley Jetmore, who brought the litigation. (Photo, public domain via Wikimedia) The City of Memphis in March was ordered to pay $107,687 in attorney's fees in a public records case in which it was found to willfully violate the law in redacting public information from traffic accident reports. It was the second case won by Bradley Jetmore involving [...]