attorneys’ fees

16 Oct, 2017

Delaying access to public records violates law, appeals court rules

By |2020-04-09T09:09:02-05:00October 16, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment

Government entities cannot ignore the requirement in the Tennessee Public Records Act to provide access to records promptly and still be in compliance with the law, according to an appellate court ruling last week in Jetmore v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett In the opinion delivered by Judge Andy D. Bennett, the court upheld a trial court's finding against the Metro Nashville Police Department, which had limited the number of traffic accident reports it would provide a requester to three a day. The appellate court also upheld the award of attorney's fees to the requester who brought the lawsuit, saying [...]

3 Aug, 2017

Sumner County School Board blames the Office of Open Records Counsel for bad advice

By |2018-11-16T15:13:59-06:00August 3, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The Sumner County Board of Education blames the Office of Open Records Counsel for bad advice that led it on a journey of spending almost $250,000 of taxpayer money to defend, then appeal, a public records lawsuit that it lost. From The Tennessean: "We are disappointed that the court decided that the board’s former policy did not comply with a 2008 version of Tennessee’s public records statute, especially because the Office of Open Records Counsel, which has the legal duty to interpret the act, informed the board that its policy was lawful and that its response to Mr. Jakes’ request was appropriate under the law," a statement reads. "The board [...]

14 Jul, 2017

Appellate court reverses trial court, upholds attorney fee provision in public records case

By |2018-11-16T15:09:47-06:00July 14, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment

The Court of Appeals on Thursday found a Lynnville city recorder was willful in denying a citizen access to inspect public records when she required an upfront $150, and remanded the case back to consider the award of the citizen's attorney fees. It is the third case in two years in which the appellate court has said that a wrongful denial of public records must be based on law or a good faith argument about the law to avoid the award of attorney fees. Court of Appeals Judge Arnold B. Goldin In the opinion delivered by Judge Arnold B. Goldin and joined by Judge J. Steve Stafford, the court reversed [...]

4 Oct, 2016

Metro Nashville must pay nearly $57K in attorneys fees in public records case

By |2020-04-09T09:09:40-05:00October 4, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Senior Judge Robert E. Lee Davies ordered Metro Nashville to pay nearly $57K in attorneys fees to a public records requester, saying that the city "misinterpreted and ignored the 'promptness' requirement" in the Tennessee Public Records Act. Davies found the city was willful in not complying with the law, a requirement for awarding attorneys fees in a public records lawsuit. Senior Judge Robert E. Lee Davies orders Metro Nashville to pay attorneys fees in public records case that challenged the city's delay in releasing records. Plaintiff Bradley Jetmore filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming Metro Nashville's police department records division had begun delaying release of traffic reports after about [...]

18 Nov, 2015

What we learned from a citizen’s fight for public records in Sumner County

By |2018-11-16T15:14:39-06:00November 18, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

Judge Dee David Gay reads his ruling that the Sumner County Board of Education violated the Tennessee Public Records Act because it went too far in restricting how citizens could make requests. The school district would only allow citizens to view public records if they made their request in writing through the U.S. Postal Service or in person. At a cost of about three or four college educations at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Sumner County’s school officials and school board just got educated about the state’s public records law. Sumner County parents and taxpayers paid the tuition. On Nov. 13, Sumner County Judge Dee Gay ruled that the [...]

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