agendas

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.

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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.

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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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4 Sep, 2020

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

By |2020-09-04T15:57:17-05:00September 4, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: , , , , , |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 [...]

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23 Feb, 2020

Bill would require government entities to put meeting agendas online

By |2023-04-11T10:57:55-05:00February 23, 2020|Categories: Public Records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment

State Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, are pushing a bill that would require government entities to post meeting agendas on their websites, as well as other basic government information. House Bill 2132 and Senate Bill 2756 would make it easier and faster for the public to get and review agendas for upcoming meetings. State Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, (left) and State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, (right) have proposed legislation that would require government entities with a website to include meeting agendas and other basic government information on the website. The bill requires a government entity with a website to post its meetings agendas on the [...]

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