emails Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

27 Jun, 2019

Resident says Lebanon City councilwoman created Open Meetings Act violation through emails

By Deborah Fisher|2019-06-27T13:49:04-05:00June 27, 2019|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: emails, Lebanon City Council, Lorrie Hicks, Open Meetings Act, open meetings violation|2 Comments

A Lebanon resident, who was barred from entering a city council meeting, is claiming the Lebanon City Council has violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act multiple times in recent months and is requesting the city get training on the law and reconsider its actions on a recent rezoning decision. Lorrie Hicks, through her attorney Paul McAdoo, has sent a letter to the Mayor Bernie Ash of the Lebanon City Council, explaining the alleged violations. She told TCOG she has not yet heard back from the city, although the mayor was quoted in the local newspaper as saying he had turned over her letter to the city attorney. “I don’t know [...]

6 Aug, 2018

NewsChannel 5 files suit after denied access to Jason Locke travel reimbursement records

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:46:08-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Chancellor Russell Perkins, Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter, emails, Glenn Funk, Jason Locke, NewsChannel 5, Phil Williams, Ron Harris, TBI, Tennessean v. Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, travel records|0 Comments

NewsChannel 5 has filed a public records lawsuit after it was denied access to travel reimbursement and phone records related to former acting TBI director Jason Locke's alleged affair with another state official. Jason Locke, former acting director of the TBI. A public records request for his travel reimbursements was denied on the basis that Locke was under criminal investigation. Locke is being investigated for misuse of state funds during an affair with another state official. The Nashville news station's chief investigative reporter Phil Williams also was denied access to email communications between Locke and the official, Sejal West, who was the deputy commission of the Tennessee Department of [...]

2 May, 2016

Jackson Sun gets $1,600 public records bill after requesting to see accreditation emails at UT-Martin

By Deborah Fisher|2016-05-02T18:13:24-05:00May 2, 2016|Categories: fees|Tags: emails, fees for public records, Schedule of Reasonable Charges, The Jackson Sun, University of Tennessee-Martin|0 Comments

The Jackson Sun in a Sunday editorial called for reform of the state's public records fee schedule after getting a $1,600 public records bill for copies of emails about University of Tennessee at Martin's academic probation. Jackson Sun Editor Steve Coffman When UT-Martin's administrators said they didn't have specifics about the probation, the newspaper requested to review emails to and from the college's administrative and academic leadership team on the topic. What the emails showed: UTM knew it was at risk for losing accreditation for multiple years for failing to address five specific and related standards, yet did little about it. (See story: UTM repeatedly failed to fix issues that led to probation) Getting [...]

6 May, 2015

The Tennessean: UT withholds emails about student athletes, citing FERPA

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T08:28:19-05:00May 6, 2015|Categories: requests|Tags: emails, FERPA, Maria DeVarenne, The Tennessean, University of Tennessee|0 Comments

The Tennessean's news director Maria DeVarenne said the University of Tennessee is stonewalling the news organization's efforts to report on allegations of sexual assault against football players. In a story published today, reporter Anita Wadhwani reports that the university withheld emails between administrators "that could shed light on how the university and its athletics department responded to allegations of sexual assault against student-athletes." The university said emails about the students are protected under the Tennessee Public Records Act and the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. More from the story: The Tennessean in November requested email messages containing the names of five current or former UT football and basketball [...]

30 Jun, 2014

Government emails from private accounts – how to comply?

By Deborah Fisher|2014-06-30T15:01:01-05:00June 30, 2014|Categories: email|Tags: emails, litigation|0 Comments

In Tennessee, the Office of Open Records Counsel has made clear that emails sent by government officials discussing government business, whether sent from a government account or a private account, are subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act. A judge's ruling earlier this year in a lawsuit over Knox County government emails underscored the issue of open access, though it took the Knoxville News Sentinel one and half years to prevail. In talking with reporters in the past three or four months, I think the more thorny issue is how difficult it is for anyone to know private email accounts are being used for public business -- and, then, how [...]