News - Page 53 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

16 Oct, 2017

Delaying access to public records violates law, appeals court rules

By Deborah Fisher|2020-04-09T09:09:02-05:00October 16, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Bradley Jetmore, Doug Pierce, Judge Andy Bennett, Metro Nashville, promptly, public records request, traffic accident reports|1 Comment

Government entities cannot ignore the requirement in the Tennessee Public Records Act to provide access to records promptly and still be in compliance with the law, according to an appellate court ruling last week in Jetmore v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett In the opinion delivered by Judge Andy D. Bennett, the court upheld a trial court's finding against the Metro Nashville Police Department, which had limited the number of traffic accident reports it would provide a requester to three a day. The appellate court also upheld the award of attorney's fees to the requester who brought the lawsuit, saying [...]

11 Oct, 2017

Resource: The state law that gives citizens the right to make photographs of public records

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-11T08:36:01-05:00October 11, 2017|Categories: Public Records|Tags: photos of public records|1 Comment

I often get questions from citizens about whether a government entity can prohibit them from taking a picture of a public record. Often the person just wants to use their cell phone instead of copying down into their notebook, word for word, what is in the government document. Sometimes the law gets ignored or flouted. So I've copied and pasted the law here about making photographs of public records. You may need to print it out and give it to the custodian to help educate them. Remember, the law trumps a local policy or practice. T.C.A. 10-7-506 (a) In all cases where any person has the right to inspect any [...]

10 Oct, 2017

State museum board rescinds controversial “code of conduct” policy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-10T09:44:54-05:00October 10, 2017|Categories: Legislature|Tags: free press, free speech, state museum board, State Sen. Mike Bell, Tennessee State Museum, Tom Smith|0 Comments

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission has rescinded a controversial code of conduct policy that had required board members to notify the commission before they talked to the media and threatened ouster of board members who didn't follow the rules. State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville The code of conduct policy came under fierce criticism by lawmakers at a Joint Government Operations Committee meeting in August. Several were appalled at the restrictive speech policy and one said it appeared to be an attempt to silence museum board member and former Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe. The code of conduct policy prohibited board members from saying anything that would "disparage" the [...]

5 Oct, 2017

Building transparency in government tops agenda at NFOIC summit

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-05T10:40:07-05:00October 5, 2017|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: NFOIC summit, TCOG event|0 Comments

The National Freedom of Information summit agenda includes multiple sessions on efforts to build transparency in government. Sessions on state-level research, how to build sustainable citizen coalitions, and FOI litigation will take place at the NFOIC summit on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14 in Nashville at the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University. Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, is the keynote speaker for the Saturday luncheon, which is sponsored by the Charles Koch Institute. Registration for the summit is open to anyone, and can be done here. Registration fees for working press and students are waived or discounted (see registration form options). Tennessee [...]

5 Oct, 2017

Memphis mayor proposes new open data policy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-05T10:53:43-05:00October 5, 2017|Categories: open data|Tags: Jim Strickland, Memphis, open data|0 Comments

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says he wants "to take our transparency to a new level" with a new open data policy. Through the end of October, the mayor's office is asking for feedback on the draft policy. Here is an excerpt: CITY OF MEMPHIS OPEN DATA POLICY Jim Strickland, mayor of Memphis I. Purpose The City of Memphis is committed to expanding the data it makes available to the public and providing the tools for understanding and interpretation of the data. To realize this commitment, this Open Data Policy sets forth the principles for the Memphis Open Data Program and establishes the Data Governance Committee. The Data Governance [...]