News - Page 69 of 128 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

14 Dec, 2016

TCOG’s comments to proposed changes, additions to Office of Open Records Counsel forms, guidelines

By Deborah Fisher|2021-02-02T12:21:22-06:00December 14, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, requests, TCOG letters, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, advisory opinions, Office of Open Records Counsel, open data, programming fees, public records requests, TCOG news|0 Comments

TCOG Letter on Proposed OORC forms 12-14-16. The Office of Open Records Counsel, in addition to creating a model public records policy, is proposing changes to the Schedule of Reasonable Charges, model forms and advisory opinions guidelines. In total, nine documents, including three new forms and two new guidelines, are under revision or are new. These documents are important because they provide guidance on what is allowed by law in the public records request process. The main changes proposed have to do with clarifying the public records request/response process. The office is also proposing that it have new discretion on whether or not to issue Advisory Opinions, which must be posted [...]

13 Dec, 2016

Ohio Supreme Court rules dash cam videos are public records

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-13T10:44:23-06:00December 13, 2016|Categories: crime records|Tags: litigation, Ohio Supreme Court, police records|0 Comments

In ruling that rejects a blanket investigatory exemption for police records, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled last week that dash cam video is in general a public record, subject to redactions. The ruling has no legal effect in Tennessee, but is relevant because it deals with some of the same legal issues that have arisen in disputes with police here about what should be available to the public under the Tennessee Public Records Act. Some police departments refuse to release incident reports, saying they are part of the investigatory file. Currently, access to body cam footage is under study. In Ohio, the Cincinnati Inquirer in 2015 requested dash cam video [...]

13 Dec, 2016

The Daily Times: Model records policy should not aid wallbuilders, suggest loopholes

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-13T08:01:48-06:00December 13, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: model public records policy, Office of Open Records Counsel, public records requests, requests by email, The Daily Times|0 Comments

We should listen to journalists in the field when it comes to access to public records. Buzz Trexler, editor at The Daily Times in Maryville, reminds me of a question I was once asked in a TV interview: What's the hardest public record to get? My answer: The record a government official doesn't want you to have. Too often, journalists are given the runaround or hit roadblocks when a public official for some reason doesn't want "the media" to have access to some public record, or want to delay news that the public record would convey. My observation has been that citizens, without the support of a media organization behind [...]

12 Dec, 2016

Hendersonville Standard: Legal bills climb to $238K in Sumner Schools public records case

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-12T12:09:12-06:00December 12, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Hendersonville Standard, Ken Jakes, legal bills, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

The Hendersonville Standard recently reported that Sumner County School Board had another $125,237 in legal bills after voting to appeal a public records ruling, bringing the total cost of the case to more than $238,000. The case stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Joelton resident Ken Jakes who requested to see the school district's public records policy. He made the request by email and a followup phone call. The school district denied the request, saying their policy dictated he must make the request in person or through letter delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. From left: Citizen Ken Jakes and Sumner Schools attorneys Todd Presnell and Jim Fuqua listen [...]

12 Dec, 2016

Public records request reveals county dropped the ball in monitoring PILOT agreements

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-12T11:12:13-06:00December 12, 2016|Categories: economic development|Tags: economic development records, Johnson City Press, PILOTS, Washington County|0 Comments

Ten years ago, two Japanese companies agreed to bring jobs and investment to Washington County if the county gave them 10 years worth of tax breaks on their property, buildings and equipment. To monitor whether the companies met their promised job requirements, they were supposed to file annual job reports. If they fell short of the jobs promise, they lost a proportional amount of that year's tax break. Washington County Industrial Park (Nathan Baker) Sounds reasonable and fair, and the work of government officials trying to look out for the county's best interest. Problem was, the company did not file those annual reports -- at least until this [...]