legislature

12 Apr, 2016

Two bills on transparency of police shooting investigations advance in Legislature

By |2018-11-09T08:23:45-06:00April 12, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

A Shelby County state senator and Memphis state representative have both gained passage in legislative committees of different amendments to bills that would govern access to TBI files in police shooting investigations. Both amendments carve out a pathway for the public to see elements of the investigation that led to a decision to clear law enforcement officers or charge them. Most police shootings where someone is killed in Tennessee do not result in charges against the officer. State Sen. Brian Kelsey An amendment to S.B 2023 by State Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, says: "After completion of an investigation by the Tennessee bureau of investigation into an officer-involved shooting [...]

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15 Mar, 2016

Spot check on legislative pre-meetings reveals significant debate

By |2016-03-15T06:53:12-05:00March 15, 2016|Categories: Legislature|Tags: , |0 Comments

News reporters Joel Ebert with The Tennessean and Rick Locker with The Commercial Appeal attended four legislative pre-meetings of House committees Monday as part of Sunshine Week to spot check what happens there. Pre-meetings came under criticism last year after news reporters were initially shut out. Lawmakers defend them as a way to work out logistics before the real committee meeting that takes place, where votes are taken and the proceeding is video-recorded and streamed live on the Internet on the General Assembly's website. Ebert and Locker reported that not all House and Senate committees have such pre-meetings, but the ones checked on Monday drew some large crowds of lobbyists and [...]

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13 Mar, 2016

If you ever wondered about the importance of access to public records, watch the movie Spotlight

By |2016-03-14T08:04:46-05:00March 13, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

  Scene from the movie Spotlight, which portrays the investigative reporting team of The Boston Globe who used public documents to help uncover a story of abuse of children by priests. There’s a great scene about public records in the movie Spotlight, which is based on the true story of The Boston Globe’s investigative reporting of child sex abuse by Catholic priests. Reporter Michael Rezendes rushes to the court clerk’s office to get an exhibit that had been filed as part of a court motion. It contained letters and evidence that showed that the Archdiocese of Boston had known about the molestation of children for years, but failed [...]

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16 Feb, 2016

Vendor confidentiality bill moves out of key House committee

By |2016-02-17T08:42:46-06:00February 16, 2016|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

A Haslam administration bill that would make confidential the names of vendors who provide goods and services "used to protect government property, government employee information, or citizen information" passed out of the House State Government Committee. The bill was amended so that it applied to all state government, and allowed local government to opt into the exemption if a local governing body "voted affirmatively to make such information confidential." The amendment also allowed for a governmental entity to provide the identity of the vendor to the comptroller of the treasury and to lawmakers on the fiscal review committee, but said those people should not share the vendor identities with others. The [...]

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2 Feb, 2016

As Tennessee General Assembly gets down to work, watch for bills that affect transparency

By |2016-03-10T08:55:37-06:00February 2, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: , |0 Comments

Nearly 40 new bills could be considered by the Tennessee General Assembly in coming weeks that would make changes to citizen access to government records or meetings - some good, some not so good. As lawmakers head deep into the session and consider some of the proposals, they would do well to remember a message sent last summer through a series of public hearings and surveys: Citizens do not want more obstacles to finding out what their government is doing. This view is documented in a new report by Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth that was developed in response to a legislative proposal last year to charge citizens new fees to inspect [...]

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