News - Page 48 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

16 May, 2018

Will Purdue Pharma be able to keep Tennessee’s opioid lawsuit sealed?

By Deborah Fisher|2018-06-12T12:19:54-05:00May 16, 2018|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: courts, Herbert Slatery, Judge Kristi Davis, proprietary records, Purdue Pharma, sealed court records|0 Comments

The lawsuit by the state of Tennessee against Purdue Pharma in a Knoxville Circuit Court yesterday was filed under "temporary" seal to allow the company time to seek a protective order to keep it from the public's eye. Will the company be successful? Tennessee is not the only state suing the OxyContin maker. Purdue Pharma is facing 22 state lawsuits to date that, similar to this one, allege the company misrepresented the drug's risks, broke consumer protection laws and helped cause an expensive public health crisis now being shouldered by taxpayers. It also is facing hundreds of other civil suits. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery Attorney General Herbert [...]

16 May, 2018

UT uses new exemption to keep confidential how much it pays investment, hedge fund managers

By Deborah Fisher|2018-05-18T06:30:16-05:00May 16, 2018|Categories: exemptions|Tags: college endowments, Daniel Connolly, investments, Knoxville News Sentinel, Rip Mercherle, State Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, State Rep. Harry Brooks, University of Tennessee|0 Comments

Daniel Connolly wrote today in the Knoxville News Sentinel about how the University of Tennessee lobbied for a public records law exemption that is now being used to hide how much the public university pays hedge fund managers. Doesn't seem quite right, does it? Connolly, a reporter with the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, did a story about the rising amount of endowment money that public colleges are pumping into private equity funds and alternative investments -- mostly hedge funds -- often in offshore accounts. The University of Tennessee system has $345 million in such funds, about 38 percent of all of its investments. From the story: Under the new law, [...]

4 May, 2018

“Father” of Tennessee’s Sunshine Law dies at 91

By Deborah Fisher|2018-05-04T08:10:29-05:00May 4, 2018|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Sam Kennedy, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|2 Comments

The "father" of Tennessee's Sunshine Law died on Tuesday at age 91. His funeral is today in Columbia. Sam Kennedy, the former longtime publisher of The Columbia Daily Herald, served his community in many capacities, including in journalism, law and government. Sam Kennedy He served as General Sessions Judge and District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District, 1958-1965, when he helped organize the District Attorney Conference. He was elected for one term as Maury County Executive in 1992 (he did not run for re-election). He also held state roles including as a member of the Tennessee State School Board and the Law Revision Commission. But the center of his career [...]

1 May, 2018

TCOG’s 2018 Legislative Report
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TCOG’s 2018 Legislative Report

crime records, exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

TCOG’s 2018 Legislative Report

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-20T17:23:53-06:00May 1, 2018|Categories: crime records, exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: addresses, Advisory Committee on Open Government, artifact sites, autopsy reports, Ballad Health, Bill Haslam, civil rights crimes, college president selection, legislature, proprietary records, public records policies, radioactive waste, State Rep. Bill Sanderson, State Rep. Eddie Smith, State Rep. Harry Brooks, State Rep. Johnnie Turner, State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, State Sen. Joey Hensley, State Sen. Mike Bell, State Sen. Rusty Crowe, TBI, trade secrets, University of Tennessee|1 Comment

Following is TCOG's 2018 legislative report on changes related to public records and open meetings. The 110th General Assembly of Tennessee adjourned April 25. 1 - Selection of state college presidents (HB 2000 / SB 2586) A requirement in the law to reveal the names and applications of candidates for president at state colleges, including University of Tennessee, was changed to allow search committees to make public “up to three” finalists instead of requiring disclosure of “no less than three.” The effect is that college search committees now have the option of recommending to a governing board as few as one person as finalist for president. Only the finalist or [...]

19 Apr, 2018

Column: Lawmakers give Advisory Committee on Open Government opportunity for new life

By Deborah Fisher|2018-04-19T11:42:47-05:00April 19, 2018|Categories: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: ACOG, Office of Open Records Counsel, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Sen. Mike Bell, State Sen. Randy McNally|4 Comments

A decade ago, in the spring of 2008, the Legislature created the Advisory Committee on Open Government to provide guidance to the newly created Office of Open Records Counsel. The Legislature also gave the committee the ability to review and provide written comments on proposed legislation related to open records and open meetings laws. But for most of the past 10 years, the group has barely met. Aside from its initial whirlwind participation in setting a “reasonable fee schedule” for copies of public records, committee discussions have been so infrequent as to cause some who have attended to wonder whether even those were worth the time. The open government committee [...]