Court of Appeals

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.

19 Aug, 2019

Court of Appeals reins in state’s expansive use of investigative exemption

By |2019-08-19T20:25:15-05:00August 19, 2019|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment

The Tennessee Court of Appeals in a ruling on Friday put much-needed limits around the so-called investigative exemption that has been used by the state to cloak otherwise public records. "We hold that public records created in the ordinary course of business, which are non-investigative in nature, and which are otherwise accessible by Tennessee citizens under the TPRA (Tennessee Public Records Act), do not subsequently become exempt from disclosure because of the initiation of a criminal investigation in which those records become relevant," the Court ruled in Scripps Media, Inc. v. Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Williams requested travel, other ordinary public records from state News [...]

25 Mar, 2019

TCOG, Associated Press, Gannett, Sinclair, others file amicus brief in “investigative records” case

By |2019-03-25T17:23:11-05:00March 25, 2019|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment

Several news organizations and the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government have filed an amicus brief in a case under appeal in which ordinary public records were swept into an investigative file and then deemed confidential. The case, Scripps Media, Inc., v. Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and TBI, arose after Nashville NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Phil Williams requested travel records, phone logs and credit card purchase summaries from the two state agencies. The agencies denied the request, citing the law enforcement "investigation" exemption. The records, they explained, had been requested by the district attorney as part of an investigation into potential misuse of funds. NewsChannel 5 [...]

26 Oct, 2016

TCOG files amicus brief in Sumner County case over emailed public records request

By |2016-10-28T08:03:53-05:00October 26, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment

The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has filed an amicus curiae brief with the Court of Appeals in Nashville in a case in which the Sumner County Board of Education argues that government entities do not have to accept a public records request sent by email. The case stems from a public records request made by citizen Kenneth Jakes in March 2014 to inspect the Sumner County Board of Education's public records policy. The school district denied the request, saying the method in which Jakes made the request -- by email and a followup phone call -- did not meet their requirements. Jakes was told he had to mail the request through the U.S. [...]

2 Sep, 2016

Tennessee School Boards Association files amicus in Sumner Schools public records appeal

By |2019-12-19T14:23:57-06:00September 2, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessee School Boards Association, which collects dues and represents nearly all school districts in the state, has filed an amicus with the Court of Appeals in a public records case against the Sumner County Board of Education. From left: Citizen Ken Jakes and Sumner Schools attorneys Todd Presnell and Jim Fuqua listen the judge's ruling that the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act. The Sumner County school district hopes to overturn a ruling by a judge that it violated the Tennessee Public Records Act when it refused to let citizen activist Ken Jakes see a copy of its public records policy. The school board argued that [...]

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