agendas Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

2 May, 2024

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

adequate public notice, school boards

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

By Deborah Fisher|2024-05-02T15:02:05-05:00May 2, 2024|Categories: adequate public notice, school boards|Tags: adequate notice, agendas, Carter County, special called meeting|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
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House, Senate pass bill requiring clear agendas for local legislative body meetings

adequate public notice, Legislature, meeting agenda, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

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

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T11:21:31-05:00April 11, 2023|Categories: adequate public notice, Legislature, meeting agenda, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: adequate notice, agendas, government websites, State Rep. Jerome Moon, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire|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
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Bill seeks to give citizens better access to meeting agendas, material

Legislature, meeting agenda

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

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T10:57:30-05:00January 11, 2023|Categories: Legislature, meeting agenda|Tags: agendas, government websites, State Rep. Jerome Moon, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, supplemental meeting documents|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
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Court of Appeals whittles away public notice protections of open meeting law

adequate public notice, open meetings lawsuits

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

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T11:01:48-05:00July 29, 2022|Categories: adequate public notice, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: adequate notice, agendas, Court of Appeals, Dickson County Commission, Judge Andy Bennett, open meetings, planning commission, Titan Partners|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.

4 Sep, 2020

New order requires real-time access to public meetings held electronically

By Deborah Fisher|2020-09-04T15:57:17-05:00September 4, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: agendas, COVID-19, electronic meetings, Gov. Bill Lee, open meetings, per diem eligibility|1 Comment

Beginning on Oct. 1, all governing bodies in Tennessee must provide real-time audio or video access of their meetings held electronically. Under Gov. Bill Lee’s earlier executive order, governing bodies who met electronically instead of in-person because of COVID-19 safety concerns had to make “reasonable efforts to provide live access." But if a governing body could not provide live access after making such efforts, it could make a recording of the meeting and provide it to the public afterward. The new order, issued on Aug. 28, requires both live access and a "clear audio or video recording of the meeting." The recording must be made available to the public "as [...]