News - Page 62 of 127 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

21 Apr, 2017

No tax-supported entity should get secrecy in spending

By Deborah Fisher|2017-04-24T17:28:29-05:00April 21, 2017|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Chattanooga, convention and visitors bureau, functional equivalent, Hamilton County Commission, hotel/motel sales tax, private entities, Tim Boyd|0 Comments

A shadowy situation has emerged in Chattanooga with an organization that manages millions of taxpayer dollars with no transparency and such a surprising disregard for accountability that one wonders what it would take to wake up elected officials who are supposedly in charge. Welcome to the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, whose lawyer threatened to sue the county after a commissioner dared to shed a little sunlight on how it spends tax dollars. The Chattanooga CVB is on track to get $7.8 million in hotel/motel tax this year via a pass-through arrangement with the Hamilton County government. The Chattanooga CVB gets almost all of its funds from [...]

12 Apr, 2017

5 things to watch in public records policies

By Deborah Fisher|2017-04-12T11:29:39-05:00April 12, 2017|Categories: requests|Tags: fee waivers, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, model public records policy, photos of public records, public records policies, public records request coordinator, public records requests|0 Comments

To influence government, citizens must have access to information. In Tennessee, an important safeguard to that access is the state’s public records law. But sometimes that law gets ignored or flouted, and government entities create rules or habits that make it hard, confusing or downright impossible for citizens to access public records in a timely way. Last year, lawmakers took a step in the right direction toward encouraging compliance with the Tennessee Public Records Act, and passed a law that requires every government entity in the state to establish a public records policy by July 1. The public records policies must outline the process for citizens to make public records [...]

23 Mar, 2017

WATE 6: DA’s request could prevent closure for Gatlinburg fire victims

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-23T06:30:01-05:00March 23, 2017|Categories: crime records|Tags: Gatlinburg fire, Sevier County, Sevier County District Attorney Jimmy Dunn|0 Comments

From WATE 6 in Knoxville on efforts to get information about the emergency response to the Gatlinburg fire:

21 Mar, 2017

Senate committee approves bill requiring more financial disclosure by lawmakers

By Deborah Fisher|2021-02-02T12:19:27-06:00March 21, 2017|Categories: Legislature|Tags: financial disclosure, lawmaker travel, State Rep. Gerald McCormick, State Sen. Doug Overbey|0 Comments

The Senate State and Local Government Committee recommended for passage legislation that would require members of the General Assembly to disclose when they receive trips paid by a person with an interest in public policy. State Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, and state Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, came about after stories reported by The Tennessean of a Gulf Shores fishing trip hosted by a school voucher advocate, a trip to Europe for lawmakers to learn about “radical Islam,” and trips to tour a North Carolina school, also funded by a voucher proponent. Overbey told the committee that his bill does not [...]

21 Mar, 2017

Bill to bring transparency to TBI investigations of police shootings advances

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-22T07:53:04-05:00March 21, 2017|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: body camera, district attorneys, police shootings, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, State Rep. Lee Harris, TBI|0 Comments

A bill that would make public the investigative record of TBI investigations of police shootings after the case is over advanced in a House subcommittee today. The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted to move the bill to the full committee. State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, is sponsoring the bill, H.B. 277, in the House, and state Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, is the sponsor in the Senate. (S.B. 1039) State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis Currently, some district attorneys in the state say they cannot release the investigative record in a police shooting case, even after the case is over, because of an exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act [...]