crime records Archives - Page 6 of 9 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

18 Jun, 2014

Knoxville News Sentinel: Oak Ridge police deny access to incident report

By Deborah Fisher|2014-06-18T15:29:07-05:00June 18, 2014|Categories: crime records|Tags: crime records, Knoxville News Sentinel, Oak Ridge police, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

The Knoxville News Sentinel explores whether police incident reports, also called offense reports, should be subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act and open for public view. The story was sparked when Oak Ridge police denied the News Sentinel's request to view an incident report related to an alleged sexual assault of a woman by someone "who appeared to be a police officer or security guard." Police say the alleged crime is under investigation so the report is protected from disclosure. TCOG is quoted, as well as Office of Open Records Counsel Elisha Hodge. Here's a link to the story.

30 Apr, 2014

Will Vanderbilt rape case provide answer to nagging public records question?

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:49:03-05:00April 30, 2014|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: crime records, sexual assault records, Tennessee Press Association, Vanderbilt rape case|0 Comments

By FRANK GIBSON Public Policy Director for Tennessee Press Association As unbelievable as it might sound, it has taken 27 years to find a case to challenge the way local law enforcement has abused and exploited a state Supreme Court ruling to make it difficult for the press to cover crime in our communities. Reporters and editors will recognize it as the “matter under investigation” excuse for denying public records. Contrary to what a sizeable segment of Tennessee’s law enforcement community thinks, it is really not an blanket exemption to our Public Records Act. A case called Appman v. Worthington has been the bane of editors and reporters, particularly police [...]

14 Apr, 2014

Does the public have a right to see police incident reports?

By Deborah Fisher|2017-01-06T15:27:02-06:00April 14, 2014|Categories: Attorney General Opinions, crime records, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: AG opinion, crime records, Elisha Hodge, incident reports, OORC|2 Comments

A city editor called me recently, wanting to know what records his local police department was required to make public. Seems like a simple question, but in Tennessee, it has become anything but that. The city editor’s staff was dealing with a new public information officer at the police department who was declining to turn over some incident reports because of their sensitive nature. The newspaper had a good relationship with the police chief and knew his track record was to be as transparent as possible about crime in the community. The city editor hopes the matter is now resolved, with the police chief’s guidance that incident reports should not [...]

10 Apr, 2014

Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case
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Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case

crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Read court filings for and against open records in Vanderbilt rape case

By Deborah Fisher|2014-06-03T07:35:41-05:00April 10, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: crime records, litigation, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|0 Comments

Updated June 3 with additional briefs filed with Court of Appeals. The Tennessean and 10 other media organizations and related groups filed an open records lawsuit against Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, challenging its assertion that police records in the Vanderbilt rape case are exempted from the Tennessee Public Records Act. At issue is just how far the Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2) goes in restricting access by the public to police records during an investigation or prosecution. The coalition -- which includes Tennessee Coalition for Open Government -- contends 16(a)(2) is not a blanket exemption, and to make it so violates Tennessee statute and constitutional rights [...]

9 Apr, 2014

Coalition asks appeals court to affirm records ruling in Vanderbilt rape case
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Coalition asks appeals court to affirm records ruling in Vanderbilt rape case

crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee

Coalition asks appeals court to affirm records ruling in Vanderbilt rape case

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-10T06:47:34-05:00April 9, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: crime records, litigation, Robb Harvey, The Tennessean, Vanderbilt rape case|0 Comments

The Tennessean and a coalition of others have asked the Court of Appeals to affirm a recent trial court's ruling that found no "blanket" exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act for crime records during a pending criminal case. The open records lawsuit against Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County started with a public records request by The Tennessean that included text messages received or sent by third party sources in the Vanderbilt rape case. Metro Government denied those records, citing Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2), which bars discovery of certain law enforcement material during an active criminal prosecution. The Tennessean was joined in the petition by 10 other media [...]