If the people are to have control over their government — and not the other way around — people need access to information and details about how government is working. Tennessee's recent payment of $1.5 billion in "refunds" to businesses deserved more transparency, most especially around the people and specifics that drove the decision.
Eugene Volokh, a prominent First Amendment scholar, podcaster and author, has filed a lawsuit against Williamson County officials saying its policy of denying access to court records violates the First Amendment.
TCOG released today its 2025 Legislative Report that examines 18 new state laws related to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act and Tennessee Public Records Act.
A Senate bill up for a vote today that creates a board of managers to oversee the Memphis Shelby County School District would allow the new board to operate secretly. The bill specifically states the the new board of managers would be exempt from the Open Meetings Act and could hold meetings closed to the public. The board would have significant powers, including recommending elected school board members for removal. The House version also creates a new board, which slightly different powers, but in this bill, the new board would be subject to the Open Meetings law.
More than two years after a shooter blasted into the Covenant School in Nashville and killed six people, including three third-graders, the Metro Nashville Police Department on April 2 released a 48-page investigative case summary officially announcing the end of the case. Records of shooter's writings collected by police continue to be part of a lawsuit on appeal at the Court of Appeals in which a chancellor ruled copyright prevented their release.
