legislature Archives - Page 6 of 13 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

16 Feb, 2016

Vendor confidentiality bill moves out of key House committee

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-17T08:42:46-06:00February 16, 2016|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: cybersecurity, legislature, State Rep. Bill Sanderson, State Rep. Cameron Sexton, vendor confidentiality|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 [...]

2 Feb, 2016

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

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T08:55:37-06:00February 2, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|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 [...]

25 Jan, 2016

Open government advocate named to committee to look at Legislature’s sexual harassment policy

By Deborah Fisher|2016-01-26T04:25:18-06:00January 25, 2016|Categories: Legislature|Tags: Beth Harwell, legislature, Ryan Haynes, sexual harassment, State Rep. Jeremy Durham|0 Comments

A legislative sexual harassment policy that has come under criticism, partly because it allows for complete secrecy, will be reviewed by an independent committee in the wake of accusations about state Rep. Jerry Durham that has led Republican leaders to call for his resignation. Frank Gibson, founding director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and TPA's public policy director House Speaker Beth Harwell said there have been legitimate criticisms about the 19-year-old policy and appointed the following people to review it: Allison Duke, Associate Dean, College of Business at Lipscomb; Frank Gibson, Public Policy Director for the Tennessee Press Association; Dianne Neal, Attorney; Connie Ridley, Director of Legislative Administration; and [...]

30 Dec, 2015

Inquiries went unanswered at Office of Open Records Counsel, audit shows

By Deborah Fisher|2015-12-30T11:57:45-06:00December 30, 2015|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: Ann Butterworth, legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel|0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel, which lost its full-time director in 2014, had a mounting backlog of 603 inquiries dating back 18 months in September, according to an audit by the state comptroller released yesterday. "Based on procedures performed, due to lack of resources, the Office of Open Records Counsel is currently experiencing a significant backlog in reviewing and responding to open records inquiries," according to the audit, which was performed July through September. Ann Butterworth The number of inquiries not reviewed totaled 380. The number where research was in progress totaled 223. Most inquiries received by the office come from ordinary citizens, followed by government officials and [...]

18 Nov, 2015

What we learned from a citizen’s fight for public records in Sumner County

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:14:39-06:00November 18, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorneys' fees, Elisha Hodge, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, Sumner County School Board|0 Comments

Judge Dee David Gay reads his ruling that the Sumner County Board of Education violated the Tennessee Public Records Act because it went too far in restricting how citizens could make requests. The school district would only allow citizens to view public records if they made their request in writing through the U.S. Postal Service or in person. At a cost of about three or four college educations at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Sumner County’s school officials and school board just got educated about the state’s public records law. Sumner County parents and taxpayers paid the tuition. On Nov. 13, Sumner County Judge Dee Gay ruled that the [...]