Knox County Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

9 May, 2020

Knoxville reporter barred from COVID-19 briefing after critical story

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-10T09:14:37-05:00May 9, 2020|Categories: Journalism|Tags: COVID-19, Knox County, Knoxville News Sentinel, Mike Donila, press briefing, Vincent Gabrielle|0 Comments

Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Vincent Gabrielle was shut out of a COVID-19 daily press briefing after writing a story highlighting the city's lack of data-sharing on its re-opening benchmarks. Knox County's communications director shut out a Knoxville News Sentinel reporter from the daily COVID-19 briefings on Friday, shortly after his story published about the county not sharing data behind its re-opening benchmarks. The daily briefing is held through Zoom, and news reporters across the city have been given access to the meeting code. However, when news reporter Vincent Gabrielle tried to enter the press briefing where reporters could ask questions through a chat function, he was not allowed in. When [...]

4 Mar, 2018

Tennessee lawmakers seek to close autopsy reports, findings

By Deborah Fisher|2018-03-04T12:44:24-06:00March 4, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: autopsy reports, Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, Julia Goodin, Knox County, State Rep. Eddie Smith, State Sen. Joey Hensley, toxicology reports|3 Comments

The House Health Subcommittee approved a bill Wednesday that would make autopsy investigation reports and findings conducted by the state and county medical examiners confidential. John Lott with the Knox County Regional Forensics Center, Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, the county medical examiner for Knox and Anderson counties, and State Chief Medical Examiner Julia Goodin, tell lawmakers while they want to make confidential state and county autopsy reports. Speaking to the subcommittee, Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, the county medical examiner for Knox and Anderson counties, said that having the findings of forensic autopsies available to the public is difficult for family members and sometimes means that familial conditions, such as dementia, [...]

6 Dec, 2017

Knox County mayor proposes removing photography ban on public records

By Deborah Fisher|2017-12-06T09:20:54-06:00December 6, 2017|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Knox County, Lee Pope, Office of Open Records Counsel, photos of public records, State Sen. Mike Bell, Tim Burchett|0 Comments

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett has proposed changing the county's public records policy to remove the ban on taking pictures of public records, a ban that was adopted when the county updated its public records policy to include language from a state model policy. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett “In Tennessee, citizens can inspect public documents at no charge. There’s no reason they shouldn’t also be allowed to take pictures of those records with their own cellphone cameras,” Burchett said in a new release. “Our taxpayers already pay for these documents and access to public records shouldn’t be limited only to those who can afford to pay for [...]

2 Jun, 2016

Knox County judge refuses to lift his seal on court records in UT case

By Deborah Fisher|2016-06-02T11:24:57-05:00June 2, 2016|Categories: court records|Tags: Knox County, Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee, Knoxville News Sentinel, Richard Hollow, sealed court records, University of Tennessee rape case|0 Comments

Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee refused this week a request by the Knoxville News Sentinel to lift the seal on court records entered in the case of former University of Tennessee football players accused of rape. Former UT football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. The news organization filed a petition months ago, arguing that the judge had put the records under seal without any hearing on why secrecy was needed. The judge did not grant the News Sentinel's request for a hearing, but allowed its attorney to argue the point during another hearing on Tuesday related to the prosecutors' request to delay the trials. McGee said he [...]

10 Sep, 2015

Knox County mayor opposes new public records fees

By Deborah Fisher|2015-09-10T19:06:45-05:00September 10, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: fees for public records, Knox County, Michael Grider, Office of Open Records Counsel, Tim Burchett|0 Comments

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett filed comments with the Office of Open Records Counsel today, expressing opposition to charging taxpayers to inspect public documents, saying it would be a step backward. Burchett wrote: As a former state senator, I had the opportunity to sponsor bills updating and strengthening portions of the current Open Records Act. As a legislator, my focus was – and remains today – on ensuring openness and transparency in government. Accountability begins with access, and true accountability means reducing, not increasing, obstacles to access public records. Charging taxpayers for exercising their right to merely inspect the very documents their taxes [...]