legislature Archives - Page 4 of 12 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

20 Dec, 2016

House Republican caucus meetings to be open unless it’s “family discussion”, chairman says

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-20T11:45:57-06:00December 20, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: House Republican caucus, legislature, State Rep. Ryan Williams, Tennessee Capitol Press Corps|1 Comment

House Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan Williams told the Capitol Hill press corps last week that caucus meetings would be presumed to be open while the legislature is in session, according to a report in The Tennessean. However, he said, if a member wanted to have a "family discussion," the caucus would take a vote on closing the meeting. State Rep. Ryan Williams The meeting with the press corps came after the House caucus, departing from tradition, held a closed door session in early December to discuss the state budget surplus and the fires in Sevier County. The press corps asked to discuss what appeared to be a new [...]

9 Dec, 2016

Capitol Press Corps asks to discuss closed meetings of Republican caucus

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-09T17:59:51-06:00December 9, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: Chas Sisk, legislature, State Rep. Ryan Williams, Tennessee Capitol Press Corps, Tennessee Constitution, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|0 Comments

The Capitol Press Corp has requested to meet with the House's Republican Caucus Chair, Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, to discuss an apparent change in policy where journalists are no longer allowed to cover caucus meetings. Chas Sisk, chairman of the Capitol Press Corps “Past practice — especially since Republicans gained supermajority status — has been that the meetings are open unless closed by caucus vote. If that is to change, we think it’s important for both sides to understand the rules of the road going forward,” wrote Chas Sisk, news reporter for WPLN and chairman of the Tennessee Capitol Press Corps, in a letter to Williams. “…Our fundamental concern is [...]

7 Sep, 2016

Advisory Committee on Open Government aims for body camera study, public hearings

By Deborah Fisher|2016-10-10T14:27:47-05:00September 7, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, Bob Ramsey, David Rausch, legislature, police body cameras, Rick Hollow|0 Comments

The Advisory Committee on Open Government (ACOG) took the first steps toward a police body camera study last week, discussing ideas for public hearings around the state and how it would develop broad input and conversation. State Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, and Chair of House State Government Committee The 14-member group, which is appointed by the Comptroller's Office, represents a wide range of media, government and citizen organizations and is authorized by law to provide written comment on proposed legislation regarding open records and meetings. The House State Government Committee, chaired by state Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, asked the open government committee to study the body cam issue after [...]

15 Aug, 2016

Poll: Tennesseans universally support access to police body camera footage in cases of death and injury

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:57:04-05:00August 15, 2016|Categories: crime records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, crime records, legislature, police body cameras, TBI|1 Comment

NASHVILLE — About 9 in 10 Tennesseans (89%) support public access to police body camera video when it records use of force that results in a citizen’s serious injury or death, according to a new poll by icitizen in collaboration with the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. The support crosses partisan, age and regional lines. The results demonstrate strong citizen agreement that such video be disclosed to the public. In addition, a clear majority of voters (57%) believe the public has a right to see video of officer-involved shootings before an investigation is finished. About one-third (35%) oppose giving the public access before an investigation is finished (8% are unsure). “While it [...]

26 Apr, 2016

15 decisions on public records by the Tennessee Legislature in 2016

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:23:32-06:00April 26, 2016|Categories: court records, crime records, exemptions, fees, Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, requests|Tags: birth certificates, civil asset forfeiture, court records, death certificates, drones, exemptions, fees for public records, government contracts, legislature, police body cameras, police records, police shootings, public notice, tax records, TBI, vendor confidentiality|1 Comment

This year, Tennessee lawmakers punted on public records bills that could have created new access rights to see police body camera video and files of finished investigations into officer-involved shootings. But they did pass several new laws — some that exempted more government information from public view, and others that hold promise for improving government transparency. Following is a roundup of action by the Tennessee Legislature related to public records and access. 1- Police body cameras: After a late-in-session effort to pass a body camera bill and disagreement among stakeholders, the House State Government Committee instructed the Advisory Committee on Open Government to study the issue and provide them with [...]