Office of Open Records Counsel Archives - Page 3 of 9 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

20 Nov, 2017

Would your school board vote on a capital plan without public notice?

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T10:59:34-05:00November 20, 2017|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: adequate public notice, agendas, Chattanooga, Elisha Hodge, Hamilton County Board of Education, Hamilton County superintendent Bryan Johnson, Memphis Publishing Co. v. City of Memphis, Office of Open Records Counsel, school boards, Souder v. Health Partners|0 Comments

If there’s one type of governing body that generates the most open meetings questions to my help line, it’s school boards. So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a school board member for a moment and consider the following scenario. I hope it will provide you some ideas the next time you ask a school board candidate where he or she stands on government transparency. Instead of allowing the stock answer, “I’m pro-transparency,” how would your potential school board member react in this situation? Four months ago, the school board hires a new superintendent. He immediately faces a list of overdue capital improvement projects. Some schools need extensive repair [...]

4 Oct, 2017

TCOG urges Office of Open Records Counsel to update guidance on taking photos of public records

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-04T07:18:04-05:00October 4, 2017|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Public Records, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Adam Yeomans, Advisory Committee on Open Government, Lee Pope, Office of Open Records Counsel, photos of public records|0 Comments

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has urged the Office of Open Records Counsel to update its Model Public Records Policy and take quick action to stem a growing problem of government entities who are preventing citizens from taking photos of government records. See a copy of the TCOG's letter here: Taking photos of public records - Letter to Office of Open Records Counsel, 10-3-17. The letter was sent to Open Records Counsel Lee Pope from Adam Yeomans, who is vice president of TCOG's board of directors and its representative on the Advisory Committee on Open Government. The advisory committee is a 14-member group appointed by the Comptroller that provides advice to [...]

20 Sep, 2017

State agencies urged by committee chair to allow photos of public records

By Deborah Fisher|2017-09-21T08:24:06-05:00September 20, 2017|Categories: Legislature, Public Records|Tags: legislature, Office of Open Records Counsel, photos of public records, State Rep. Jeremy Faison, State Sen. Mike Bell|2 Comments

(Updated 9-21-17 with quotes from the meeting, and more background on the development of the Model Public Records policy that allows government entities to ban photography.) Three state agencies were instructed to re-examine their public records policies that prohibit citizens from taking photos of public records during a meeting of the Joint Government Operations Committee meeting today. State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, the Senate chairman of the committee, asked the Comptroller's Office, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to review their policies to allow citizens to use technology, like their cell phone, to take photos of public records. [...]

3 Aug, 2017

Sumner County School Board blames the Office of Open Records Counsel for bad advice

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:13:59-06:00August 3, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: attorneys' fees, Elisha Hodge, Jim Fuqua, Ken Jakes, Office of Open Records Counsel, Sumner County School Board|0 Comments

The Sumner County Board of Education blames the Office of Open Records Counsel for bad advice that led it on a journey of spending almost $250,000 of taxpayer money to defend, then appeal, a public records lawsuit that it lost. From The Tennessean: "We are disappointed that the court decided that the board’s former policy did not comply with a 2008 version of Tennessee’s public records statute, especially because the Office of Open Records Counsel, which has the legal duty to interpret the act, informed the board that its policy was lawful and that its response to Mr. Jakes’ request was appropriate under the law," a statement reads. "The board [...]

2 Aug, 2017

Appellate court upholds ruling: Sumner County Schools violated public records law

By Deborah Fisher|2017-08-03T08:06:28-05:00August 2, 2017|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Frank G. Clement Jr., Judge Dee David Gay, Judge John W. McClarty, Judge Neal McBrayer, Ken Jakes, Office of Open Records Counsel, Sumner County School Board, TCOG news|1 Comment

The Court of Appeals has affirmed a Sumner County trial court's ruling that the denial of a public records request because it was sent by email violated the Tennessee Public Records Act. Sumner County Board of Education attorney Jim Fuqua. In March 2014, the Sumner County Board of Education denied Ken Jakes' request to see the board's public records policy, saying he had to make the request in person, or send it via U.S. Postal Service. Jakes sued, the Sumner County trial court found in his favor, and the school board voted to appeal the ruling. The school board's attorney, Jim Fuqua, testified that he was relying on [...]