crime records

11 Jun, 2021

Report takes aim at redaction, access to body camera footage

By |2021-06-22T16:27:47-05:00June 11, 2021|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , |0 Comments

A recent report by investigative journalist Marc Perrusquia details the excessive redaction of body camera footage, obscuring information and leading to high labor costs and delays when journalists and members of the public want to view it. The report, "Inaccessible: Police Body Camera Footage Is Often Expensive, Heavily Edited And Takes Months To Get", was published by the Institute for Public Service Reporting in Memphis where Perrusquia is director. The report is especially relevant and timely because a law that allows redaction of certain parts of body camera footage is set to expire July 1, 2022. [...]

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21 Mar, 2021

Bill closes information about reported crimes involving minors on school property

By |2021-04-15T12:17:04-05:00March 21, 2021|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Proposed legislation that would make confidential law enforcement records of incidents on school property involving a minor passed the House State Government Committee on Tuesday. The bill is scheduled to be heard by the House Government Operations Committee on Monday afternoon. HB 368 arose from a situation in Putnam County after an incident involving two minors at a school, state Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, told the House State Government Committee on Wednesday. (See video of testimony and questions about the bill, including testimony from TCOG.) Though the incident did not result in any charges, a parent of one of the minors sought to get the law enforcement records related to [...]

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1 Mar, 2021

Bill would make confidential police video, contact info of those arrested and detained

By |2021-03-01T13:21:56-06:00March 1, 2021|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Proposed legislation by state Rep. Glen Casada and state Sen. Jack Johnson would make confidential police video of someone arrested or detained and not subject to the public records law. The bill also would close contact information of those arrested, including the home address and phone number. HB 910 is scheduled to heard by the House Public Service Subcommittee at its Wednesday meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. The bill would add an exemption to the public records act that says: (1) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, personal identifying information compiled by and in the possession of municipal and county law enforcement agencies and detention facilities concerning any [...]

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23 Feb, 2020

Lawsuit by Scoop Media Group challenges redaction of victim names

By |2021-01-11T16:55:23-06:00February 23, 2020|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Update: Scoop Media won its public records case in August 2020. Montgomery County Chancellor Laurence M. McMillan ruled that T.C.A. § 4-38-111(i) does not make confidential the names and address of alleged victims of criminal conduct found in warrants and affidavits of complaints, but rather applies to identifying information about a victim obtained when the person requests notifications regarding the status of criminal proceedings. He ordered Montgomery County to stop redacting the information. However, he denied attorney's fees to Scoop Media because the Office of Open Records Counsel had advised Montgomery County that the confidentiality provision would "probably apply to domestic violence situations where an officer responds to a scene" [...]

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30 Jan, 2018

Does Tennessee have too many exemptions to its public records law?

By |2019-09-11T19:03:02-05:00January 30, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

This week, the Tennessee Comptroller’s office released a list of 538 exemptions to the public records law passed by lawmakers. Most of those — almost 450 — were added in the past 30 years, according to the best information the office could find. But really, isn’t that one of the problems? Comptroller Chief of Staff Jason Mumpower, who oversees the Office of Open Records Counsel, told lawmakers in his presentation that the exemptions “are a hodgepodge all over the Tennessee Code Annotated.” It’s hard to tell exactly when some were created. He even acknowledged that they may have missed some, and if someone finds something not on the list, to [...]

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