juveniles Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

After challenge by WBIR, judge opens juvenile court proceedings, records

By Deborah Fisher|2025-07-31T12:15:44-05:00July 31, 2025|Categories: crime records, Open Courts|Tags: court access, Judge Casey Stokes, juvenile court, juveniles, Local Legal Initiative, Meigs County, Paul McAdoo, WBIR|0 Comments

After a challenge from WBIR in Knoxville, Meigs County Judge Casey Stokes reversed his closure of court proceedings and records in a juvenile murder case, opening future proceedings and access to most documents, including transcripts of previous hearings. WBIR reported on Monday the more detailed allegations against the 15-year-old revealed in the newly released court records: She went to bed angry that her father had taken away her phone and was trying to keep her from her boyfriend. Waking up later, she loaded her gun, checked on her younger brother and debated for about 20 minutes in her room before deciding to go into the living room and shoot her [...]

Bill closes information about reported crimes involving minors on school property

Proposed legislation that would make confidential law enforcement records of incidents on school property involving a minor passed the House State Government Committee on Tuesday. The bill is scheduled to be heard by the House Government Operations Committee on Monday afternoon. HB 368 arose from a situation in Putnam County after an incident involving two minors at a school, state Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, told the House State Government Committee on Wednesday. (See video of testimony and questions about the bill, including testimony from TCOG.) Though the incident did not result in any charges, a parent of one of the minors sought to get the law enforcement records related to [...]