A citizen's lawsuit against the city of Athens and its city manager takes aim at multiple potential violations of the open meetings and public records laws, including overcharging for copies and failing to keep minutes of meetings involving a suspension of the city manager.
This month, local governing bodies across the state resumed in-person meetings after 58 weeks under a governor's executive order allowing electronic meetings. The order, which had lifted requirements of state law so that governing bodies could meet electronically due to COVID-19, expired on April 28 without renewal by Gov. Bill Lee. In a spot check of governing bodies, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government found that some resumed physical meetings just as before the pandemic. Others resumed physical meetings but continued citizen-friendly measures that they were not doing before the pandemic — such as livestreaming more meetings and posting the video to YouTube. Some resumed meeting in their regular meeting rooms [...]
Lebanon City Council members are facing a lawsuit over violations of the Open Meetings Act and public records law because of a meeting closed to the public, and failing to provide meeting minutes. (Photo of Lebanon City Hall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) The Lebanon City Council, despite undergoing training in the open meetings and public records law last year to settle a legal claim, must now face a judge over new allegations. "We had given them the opportunity before and obviously they still don't follow the law even after the training," said Lorrie Hicks, who filed a lawsuit last week alleging new violations of the open meetings and [...]
State Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, are pushing a bill that would require government entities to post meeting agendas on their websites, as well as other basic government information. House Bill 2132 and Senate Bill 2756 would make it easier and faster for the public to get and review agendas for upcoming meetings. State Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, (left) and State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, (right) have proposed legislation that would require government entities with a website to include meeting agendas and other basic government information on the website. The bill requires a government entity with a website to post its meetings agendas on the [...]
To influence government, citizens must have access to information. In Tennessee, an important safeguard to that access is the state’s public records law. But sometimes that law gets ignored or flouted, and government entities create rules or habits that make it hard, confusing or downright impossible for citizens to access public records in a timely way. Last year, lawmakers took a step in the right direction toward encouraging compliance with the Tennessee Public Records Act, and passed a law that requires every government entity in the state to establish a public records policy by July 1. The public records policies must outline the process for citizens to make public records [...]
