Ann Butterworth

28 Apr, 2016

So what ever happened to the fees to inspect bill?

By |2022-02-11T09:31:45-06:00April 28, 2016|Categories: fees, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Last year at this time, open government advocates in the state had successfully convinced lawmakers to delay action on an ill-conceived proposal to allow government to charge fees to inspect public records. Already, the law allows charging citizens fees to get copies of records and the rules have led to out-of-control labor costs with few limits or recourse for citizens and journalists. The free inspection option is the law's safety valve, and the last protection for a citizen or journalist who can't afford the prices and the fights with government officials over costs. The sponsors of the legislation, who were carrying it at the request of the Tennessee School Boards [...]

30 Dec, 2015

Inquiries went unanswered at Office of Open Records Counsel, audit shows

By |2015-12-30T11:57:45-06:00December 30, 2015|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel, which lost its full-time director in 2014, had a mounting backlog of 603 inquiries dating back 18 months in September, according to an audit by the state comptroller released yesterday. "Based on procedures performed, due to lack of resources, the Office of Open Records Counsel is currently experiencing a significant backlog in reviewing and responding to open records inquiries," according to the audit, which was performed July through September. Ann Butterworth The number of inquiries not reviewed totaled 380. The number where research was in progress totaled 223. Most inquiries received by the office come from ordinary citizens, followed by government officials and [...]

28 Aug, 2015

TCOG plans comment for public records hearings: New fees would choke off citizen oversight

By |2015-08-30T03:24:20-05:00August 28, 2015|Categories: fees, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel is conducting public records hearings in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson in September to ask the question: Should the Tennessee Public Records Act permit the government to charge citizens to inspect public records? The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government believes that charging citizens to view public records would make it easier for some government officials to block citizen access to records. We believe that the result of a change in Tennessee law would be immediate: Some citizens would no longer be able to view public records because they could not afford to pay the fees. The change would roll back Tennessee’s legal tradition of favoring [...]

12 Aug, 2015

Hearings on public records fees scheduled for September

By |2015-08-18T10:10:18-05:00August 12, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: , , , , , |4 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel has set public hearings for Sept. 15-17 in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson to gather input on whether citizens should have to pay local  and state government to inspect public records. The hearings on public records fees are being conducted after the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Tennessee Press Association opposed bills in the last legislative session that would allow for the first time local governments and state agencies to charge labor fees to provide public records for citizen inspection. Currently, Tennessee law allows citizens free access to inspect public records, but allows charges if the citizen wants copies. TCOG, TPA and other [...]

8 Jul, 2015

My favorite part of the ACOG meeting about charging new fees for public records (VIDEO)

By |2015-07-09T01:26:30-05:00July 8, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: , |0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel has posted video of the meeting she held with the Advisory Committee on Open Government Committee meeting from June 29. The topics covered were upcoming public hearings and questionnaires to gather information so, as Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth told the group, she can make her recommendation to the Legislature, presumably on whether or not to propose new fees on citizens to inspect public records, and if so, how. (See previous blog post: Public hearings, survey to gather citizen, government input on public records fee proposal.) Since the video is long (1 hour and 43 minutes), I've highlighted a part of the video below  that takes [...]

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