News - Page 57 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

14 Jul, 2017

Appellate court reverses trial court, upholds attorney fee provision in public records case

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:09:47-06:00July 14, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, fees for public records, Giles County, Judge Arnold Goldin, Judge Brandon Gibson, Rickey Joe Taylor, Rickey Joe Taylor v. Town of Lynnville, Robert Dalton|1 Comment

The Court of Appeals on Thursday found a Lynnville city recorder was willful in denying a citizen access to inspect public records when she required an upfront $150, and remanded the case back to consider the award of the citizen's attorney fees. It is the third case in two years in which the appellate court has said that a wrongful denial of public records must be based on law or a good faith argument about the law to avoid the award of attorney fees. Court of Appeals Judge Arnold B. Goldin In the opinion delivered by Judge Arnold B. Goldin and joined by Judge J. Steve Stafford, the court reversed [...]

11 Jul, 2017

State museum commission restricts speech, communication with the press

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-11T16:16:35-05:00July 11, 2017|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: First Amendment, speech restrictions, state museum board, Tennessee State Museum, Tom Smith, Victor Ashe|1 Comment

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission adopted a new code of conduct on Monday that requires all commission members except for the chair and vice-chair to provide advance notification to the entire commission of any comments that they make to the public before making them. The policy would cover any communication with the press, or any public comments or written comments. The commission also decided it would apply to social media. "Should a Commissioner, excluding the Chair and Vice-Chair, publish any written statement, including blogs, or give any public statement regarding the Commission, Museum, Executive Director, or Museum personnel the Commissioner shall provide the Commission with an advance copy of [...]

5 Jul, 2017

Lee Pope promoted to Open Records Counsel, replaces Ann Butterworth

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-05T09:59:07-05:00July 5, 2017|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Ann Butterworth, Lee Pope, Office of Open Records Counsel, Rachel Buckley|0 Comments

Lee Pope, the state's new Open Records Counsel. Lee Pope, who joined the Office of Open Records Counsel last year as Deputy Open Records Counsel, has been promoted to Open Records Counsel, replacing Ann Butterworth. Butterworth is returning to her primary role as Assistant to the Comptroller for Public Finance. Butterworth had served since 2014 as the Open Records Counsel after Elisha Hodge left. Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said Pope has played a key role in eliminating a backlog of requests for assistance and in developing a model public records policy for use by government entities. Pope previously worked as Assistant Director and General Counsel for the Tennessee [...]

3 Jul, 2017

Are Tennessee voter registration records public?

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-05T17:51:43-05:00July 3, 2017|Categories: Public Records|Tags: Donald Trump, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, voter records, voting history|0 Comments

Update, 7-5-2017: I asked the Secretary of State's Office about what voter registration records were available under the Tennessee Public Records Act from the state. They responded today to say that county election commissions are the custodians of permanent voter registration records, which are open for public inspection as per T.C.A. 2-2-127. The state does have a central list of voter registration records that reflects the data that has been transferred to it by each county. However, the Secretary of State's Office said that any list generated from this data would be governed by the statute T.C.A. 2-2-138 (e) that requires anyone requesting such a list from the state to certify [...]

30 Jun, 2017

7-month quest for Gatlinburg fire records reflects poorly on state transparency

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:50:37-05:00June 30, 2017|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, Gatlinburg fire, Knoxville News Sentinel, Sevier County District Attorney Jimmy Dunn, Sevier County Judge Jeff Rader, TEMA|4 Comments

The November 2016 Gatlinburg fire killed 14 people and cost millions of dollars in damages. It was one of Tennessee’s worst disasters. A central question remains: Why did state and local officials wait so long to order an evacuation, until after the fire had already swept into residential areas? Some who lived through last-minute escapes have told news reporters that they had called 911 and were instructed it was safe to stay put. The answer to the evacuation question, and many others, could lay in the communication records and other post-fire reports held by state and local officials. But almost as soon as news organizations and citizens started requesting to [...]