agendas

17 Mar, 2025

Citizens should have access to clear agendas for all government body meetings

By |2025-03-17T10:51:52-05:00March 17, 2025|Categories: Legislature, meeting agenda, Open Meetings|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Tennessee Legislature first passed the "agenda requirement" within the Open Meetings Act in 2023. But it applied only to city and county legislative bodies, such as city councils and county commissions. In 2024, the Legislature expanded the agenda requirement to cover state boards and commissions. This year, the Legislature has a chance to complete the sound advance toward transparency in government and require that all governing bodies that are subject to the Open Meetings Act have an agenda that is available to the public before the meeting.

2 May, 2024

Carter County school board leaves off its agenda its vote to close elementary school

By |2024-05-02T15:02:05-05:00May 2, 2024|Categories: adequate public notice, school boards|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Carter County School Board voted 6-1 to close an elementary school in a special called meeting on April 25, but didn't let the public know in advance in its meeting notice. This likely violates the law's requirements for public notice for special called meetings, which requires a governing body to reasonably describe the purpose of the meeting and the action to be taken. The school board's notice had only one action item: to adopt the next year's budget.

11 Apr, 2023

House, Senate pass bill requiring clear agendas for local legislative body meetings

By |2023-04-11T11:21:31-05:00April 11, 2023|Categories: adequate public notice, Legislature, meeting agenda, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The House and Senate have unanimously approved a bill that will improve the timeliness and clarity of the agendas of local legislative bodies. The bill now heads to the governor's desk and will become law once signed. The bill requires that agendas be available to the public 48 hours in advance of the meeting and that they "reasonably describe matters to be deliberated and acted upon during the meeting." Several lawmakers signed onto the bill. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government brought the bill to the legislative sponsors after a series of court opinions saying that no agenda was required by the Open Meetings Act.

11 Jan, 2023

Bill seeks to give citizens better access to meeting agendas, material

By |2023-04-11T10:57:30-05:00January 11, 2023|Categories: Legislature, meeting agenda|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

A proposed bill would improve citizen access to meeting agendas and board packets before public meeting by requiring they be publicly accessible, such as on a government website, for 48 hours before the meeting. The bill would also require that agendas "clearly describe the matters to be discussed" in an effort to avoid vague references to potential action.

29 Jul, 2022

Court of Appeals whittles away public notice protections of open meeting law

By |2023-04-11T11:01:48-05:00July 29, 2022|Categories: adequate public notice, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

A Tennessee Court of Appeals rolled back the meaning of the open meetings law in a surprising ruling when it said that a governing body does not have to give public notice of an important upcoming vote as part of its agenda, even when the vote is on an issue of widespread community interest.

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