attorneys' fees Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

18 Nov, 2015

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

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:14:39-06:00November 18, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Elisha Hodge, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, Sumner County School Board|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 [...]

10 Nov, 2015

Why did Tennessee rank 37th in public access to information?

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:11:26-06:00November 10, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings, Public Records|Tags: attorneys' fees, Center for Public Integrity, legislature|0 Comments

Tennessee ranked 37th among states in public access to information in the Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 State Integrity report released on Monday. I was among those who contributed information for the report for Tennessee, so was particularly curious about how other states measured against the public access criteria used in this study to calculate the scores. Access to government information was one of the 13 categories measured by the report, which assessed systems in place to deter corruption in state government. Some of the other categories were political financing, electoral oversight, ethics enforcement agencies, judicial accountability, lobbying disclosure and state budget processes. Tennessee ranked 15th overall when considering all categories. [...]

31 Jul, 2015

Judge says Sumner County Schools denied public records request, but not willful

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:14:58-06:00July 31, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: attorneys' fees, Jeremy Johnson, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, litigation, public records request, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay said Thursday in preliminary findings that Sumner County Schools denied a public records request from open government advocate Ken Jakes, but that he heard no proof that showed the district was willful in its actions. Gay said he would make a final ruling in November on whether the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act when it denied Jakes' request on the basis that he did not follow the local district's requirement that he make the request in person or through the U.S. Postal Service. Jakes had emailed his request, following up with a voice mail, asking in March 2014 to inspect the [...]

26 Jun, 2015

Appeals Court reverses denial of attorney fees in public records case

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:08:36-06:00June 26, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Alex Friedmann, attorneys' fees, Chancellor J.B. Cox, Court of Appeals, Judge Arnold Goldin, Marshall County, Marshall County Sheriff Norman Dalton|0 Comments

The Court of Appeals in Nashville reversed a trial court ruling, and ordered attorney's fees be awarded to Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News, who sued the Marshall County Sheriff's Office after it refused to let him get copies of written jail policies and contracts unless he appeared in person. (Read the ruling: Alex Friedmann, et al. v. Marshall County, TN, et al.) Friedmann wrote a letter to the sheriff's department requesting copies under the Tennessee Public Records Act of certain jail policies and contracts. The sheriff's department told Friedmann that he would have to make his request in person. "This email does not deny Mr. Friedman[n] the records, [...]

27 Oct, 2014

Chattanooga contests paying $74,427 in legal fees after losing Sunshine Law case

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:10:48-06:00October 27, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: attorneys' fees, Chattanooga, Helen Burns Sharp, industrial development board, John Konvalinka, open meetings violation|0 Comments

The city of Chattanooga is contesting legal fees awarded to a citizen who sued and won over a violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, Chattanoogan.com reported Sunday. Helen Burns Sharp, who sued the city's Industrial Development Board over a Sunshine Law violation and won. She also got her legal fees awarded. Helen Burns Sharp brought the lawsuit after the city's Industrial Development Board awarded a tax-increment financing deal worth $9 million to a private developer building a golf course community one on of the moutains surrounding the city. A judge agreed with her that the IDB made the decision in secret in violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, [...]

attorneys’ fees

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

Why did Tennessee rank 37th in public access to information?

Judge says Sumner County Schools denied public records request, but not willful

Appeals Court reverses denial of attorney fees in public records case

Chattanooga contests paying $74,427 in legal fees after losing Sunshine Law case