Elizabethton Star Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

OORC: Carter County committee appointments may have violated Sunshine Law

By Deborah Fisher|2014-09-19T09:57:46-05:00September 19, 2014|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Open Meetings|Tags: Carter County, Elisha Hodge, Elizabethton Star, Office of Open Records Counsel, open meetings violation|0 Comments

Elisha Hodge with the Office of Open Records Counsel alerted the Carter County Commission chairman this week that it appears the governing body violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act in its appointments to committees. She also noted the public vote afterward did not appear to cure any violation because it did not include "new and substantial reconsideration" of the issues. The Elizabethton Star outlines in a detailed story Thursday how the commission first directed the three commissioners from each district to confer privately to decide who would be on which committee, and to forward their decision to the county clerk. Then at a Sept. 15 meeting, when a dispute was [...]

Elizabethton Star: School system may have violated Open Meetings Act

The Elizabethton Star reported today that the Carter County Board of Education may have violated the state's Sunshine Law by not giving adequate notice of a special called meeting where it decided to sue the city of Elizabethton. The director of schools told the newspaper that it did not advertise the meeting, but posted it at its office and notified a news reporter. The reporter said she received no communication from the school district. But Rick Hollow, attorney for the Tennessee Press Association, said even if she had, the actions by the school board still would not have constituted adequate public notice.