deliberative process privilege

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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26 Oct, 2015

Knoxville News Sentinel: State holds back emails on outsourcing project

By |2017-03-27T16:21:26-05:00October 26, 2015|Categories: deliberative process privilege|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Governor Bill Haslam's office released 72 pages of emails of his chief operating officer in charge of the state's building-management outsourcing project, but held back some, saying they fell under a "deliberative process" exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The Knoxville News Sentinel and The Commercial Appeal requested correspondence dating back to September 2014 of Greg Adams relating to the controversial outsourcing plan. Haslam's office has been considering the plan since November, but news of it did not become public until Aug. 17 when a "request for information" from potential vendors was posted on the state procurement office website. The released correspondence offered new insight into the governor's office response to the [...]

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16 Oct, 2015

AP: Haslam defends recommendation for advisers to avoid email

By |2021-12-28T11:18:20-06:00October 16, 2015|Categories: deliberative process privilege, email|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Another story on government email from Erik Schelzig with the Associated Press: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam is defending a practice among his outsourcing advisers to avoid email correspondence to prevent information getting out to the public. The Republican governor told reporters after an economic development conference this week that it's a standard practice of "sharing some wisdom" with new employees who have come to government from the private sector that all of their correspondence is subject to Tennessee's open records laws. "Any government that comes into office, the very first day they say, careful what you put in that email, because unless you want to see it [...]

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18 Nov, 2013

Deliberative process privilege danger to open government

By |2021-12-28T11:16:01-06:00November 18, 2013|Categories: deliberative process privilege|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

Court of Appeals judges are (seated from left), David R. Farmer, Patricia J. Cottrell, Charles D. Susano, Jr., Alan E. Highers, John Westley McClarty; (standing from left) J. Steven Stafford, Richard H. Dinkins, Thomas R. Frierson, II, Andy D. Bennett, Frank G. Clement, D. Michael Swiney, and Holly M. Kirby. From the Knoxville News-Sentinel:  A recent Tennessee appeals court ruling explicitly established for the first time an exemption to the state’s Public Records Act for documents used by “high officials” in developing policy. The broadly written ruling could allow any government official to refuse to release just about any document to a citizen seeking to review them. The [...]

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