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

16 Aug, 2015

Newspapers make case against fees to access public records

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-17T07:23:13-05:00August 16, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: David Plazas, fees for public records, Jack McElroy|0 Comments

Two Tennessee newspapers editorialized against a legislative proposal to charge citizens new fees to access public records today. Jack McElroy David Plazas David Plazas, opinion engagement editor of The Tennessean and Jack McElroy, editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, published pieces in advance of the three September hearings planned in Nashville, Knoxville and Jackson to gather input on a proposal to change the law to allow local government and state agencies to charge fees if someone wants to inspect a public record. Currently, the law requires that inspection be free, although charges can be made if the citizen wants copies. Read the columns here: Tell Tennessee to [...]

12 Aug, 2015

Hearings on public records fees scheduled for September

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T10:10:18-05:00August 12, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Ann Butterworth, fees for public records, Office of Open Records Counsel, TCOG news, Tennessee Press Association|4 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel has set public hearings for Sept. 15-17 in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson to gather input on whether citizens should have to pay local and state government to inspect public records. The hearings on public records fees are being conducted after the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Tennessee Press Association opposed bills in the last legislative session that would allow for the first time local governments and state agencies to charge labor fees to provide public records for citizen inspection. Currently, Tennessee law allows citizens free access to inspect public records, but allows charges if the citizen wants copies. TCOG, TPA and other [...]

30 Jun, 2015

Public hearings, survey to gather citizen, government input on public records fee proposal

By Deborah Fisher|2015-06-30T16:03:41-05:00June 30, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Ann Butterworth, Blake Farmer, David Moore, Dick Williams, Don Long, fees for public records, Janet Kleinfelter, Lucian Pera, Robb Harvey, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Steve McDaniel, State Sen. Jim Tracy, Sumner County|0 Comments

Three public hearings will be held around the state in September to gather opinions and input about a legislative proposal to allow local and state government agencies to charge fees to citizens to inspect public records. Currently, the Tennessee Public Records Act says that citizens must be allowed to view public records for free, but citizens can be charged if they request copies of those records. In the case of copies, citizens by law can be charged both the actual cost of the copy and a per-hour labor fee for the time it takes to compile the records after the first hour. Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth outlined her draft [...]

22 Jun, 2015

Open Records Counsel sets ACOG meeting, plans survey, hearings on public records

By Deborah Fisher|2015-06-29T07:47:06-05:00June 22, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: ACOG, Advisory Committee on Open Government, Ann Butterworth, fees for public records, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel has set a Monday, June 29, meeting of the Advisory Committee on Open Government to discuss a study on issues related to inspection of public records. The meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. in Room 29 of Legislative Plaza in Nashville, and will be live-video streamed and accessible from the Tennessee General Assembly's website. The agenda includes discussion of the scope of the study, a proposed questionnaire/survey and hearings on public records issues. It also includes discussion about a plan for review for the Schedule of Reasonable Charges, the Frequent and Multiple Request and Safe Harbor Policies, the Best Practices Guidelines and FAQs and [...]

5 May, 2015

Memphis report charts new approach to handling public records requests

By Deborah Fisher|2015-06-19T16:53:45-05:00May 5, 2015|Categories: Public Records, requests|Tags: A C Wharton Jr., fees for public records, Memphis, Mike Carpenter, open data, public records request, public records training, Sunlight Foundation, The Commercial Appeal|0 Comments

A top-to-bottom review presented to the mayor of Memphis last week charts a new approach to handling public records requests in Tennessee and takes direct aim at improving the underlying culture of openness. Among the 23 recommendations, it suggests a “fresh start” by re-assigning current public records custodians “to prevent adoption of incorrect methods or bad habits that have formed as part of the culture of the division or the department in which they work.” It talks about a “customer-friendly attitude,” suggests appointing a public records ombudsman to resolve disputes, and recommends a training program that would include a mix of city officials, media representatives and citizens “so each can gain [...]