economic development records Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

30 Sep, 2018

TCOG lists 13 exemptions, exemption categories that need revision or elimination

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:19:46-06:00September 30, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Public Records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: economic development records, investigation exemption, investment records, lottery records, Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, prisons, private entities, public hospital boards, tax credits, TBI, University of Tennessee, vendor names|1 Comment

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government recently provided the Open Records Ad Hoc Committee 13 exemptions or categories of exemptions that are interfering with the public's right to know what government is doing. Deborah Fisher, executive director of TCOG "As you will see, many of the exemptions listed have problems related to overbreadth or vagueness that we suspect may exceed the public purpose of the exemption. We know that some of the considerations we are bringing forward were not part of the debate when the exemptions were passed by the legislature," TCOG's letter said. "While this list may not cover every exemption that impairs transparency in government, we wanted [...]

29 Sep, 2017

Appeals court rules economic development organization subject to public records, open meetings law

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:09:55-06:00September 29, 2017|Categories: economic development, functional equivalent, open meetings lawsuits, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Dandridge, economic development records, functional equivalent, Jefferson County, Judge Charles Susano Jr., Judge D. Michael Swiney, Judge Steven Stafford, public records lawsuit|0 Comments

In a win for a group of citizens in East Tennessee, the Court of Appeals in Knoxville ruled this week that a nonprofit economic development organization in Jefferson County is subject to the state's public records and open meetings laws. The court held in Oliver Wood et al. v. Jefferson County Economic Development Oversight Committee, Inc., that the nonprofit organization, which has received between 60 percent to 68 percent of its budget from local governments each year, is the functional equivalent of a government entity and subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The court also ruled that because EDOC has a significant role in making decisions and recommendations to local government [...]

15 May, 2017

New laws passed in 2017 affect access to public records

By Deborah Fisher|2022-01-10T10:22:19-06:00May 15, 2017|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, Public Records, requests|Tags: addresses, audibility of public meeting, Bill Haslam, body cameras, bus safety complaints, crime victims, economic development records, electronic meetings, health care exams, lawmaker travel, police, requests by email, state parks, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. Darren Jernigan, State Sen. Doug Overbey, State Sen. Ken Yager, State Sen. Lee Harris, tax credits, TBI, TCOG news, Tennessee State Museum, vendors|0 Comments

TCOG Legislative Report 2017 Following is a summary of new laws affecting access to government information. They include 7 new exceptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act, 2 existing exemptions partially rolled back, 1 new law improving access to records in general, 1 new law creating criminal penalties for releasing certain confidential information, and 3 new laws improving government records for better accountability. 1 - Requiring acceptance of public records requests through email State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, brought this legislation after an expensive legal dispute in her home county of Sumner County where the school district refused to accept public records requests by [...]

15 Feb, 2017

Interested in open government? Bills to watch in 2017 in Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-17T15:00:31-05:00February 15, 2017|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: charter schools, economic development records, financial disclosures, government contracts, legislation, legislature, lottery records, outsourcing, police body cameras, requests by email, vendors, voting records|0 Comments

Lawmakers have filed dozens of bill this year that could affect a citizen’s ability to get information about their local and state government. While it’s still early, here is a list of bills to watch. Economic development records HB 947 / SB 1179 - State Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin / State Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald - Makes confidential county and municipal records related to economic development. Part of this bill would make confidential any county or city economic development contracts, agreements and related records until after a contract is entered into. The other part of the bill allows a county or municipality to keep any documents confidential after a contract [...]

12 Dec, 2016

Public records request reveals county dropped the ball in monitoring PILOT agreements

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-12T11:12:13-06:00December 12, 2016|Categories: economic development|Tags: economic development records, Johnson City Press, PILOTS, Washington County|0 Comments

Ten years ago, two Japanese companies agreed to bring jobs and investment to Washington County if the county gave them 10 years worth of tax breaks on their property, buildings and equipment. To monitor whether the companies met their promised job requirements, they were supposed to file annual job reports. If they fell short of the jobs promise, they lost a proportional amount of that year's tax break. Washington County Industrial Park (Nathan Baker) Sounds reasonable and fair, and the work of government officials trying to look out for the county's best interest. Problem was, the company did not file those annual reports -- at least until this [...]