Office of Open Records Counsel Archives - Page 7 of 9 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

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 [...]

18 Sep, 2015

Murfreesboro Post: Sen. Jim Tracy – ‘I’m never gonna run that bill’

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:54:56-05:00September 18, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: fees for public records, Murfreesboro Post, Office of Open Records Counsel, State Sen. Jim Tracy|1 Comment

State Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville The Murfreesboro Post caught up with state Sen Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, after the public hearings this week. Tracy, at the request of the Tennessee School Boards Association, sponsored their bill to allow new fees to be charged against citizens who want to see public records. Tracy told Murfreesboro Post reporter Sam Stockard that he wanted to put some teeth in the law to go after the "bad actors" on both sides -- government officials who were delaying or obstructing requests, and those who were requesting emails from entire school boards or county commissions. (Tracy told Tennessee Coalition for Open Government the same thing earlier this [...]

10 Sep, 2015

Knox County mayor opposes new public records fees

By Deborah Fisher|2015-09-10T19:06:45-05:00September 10, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: fees for public records, Knox County, Michael Grider, Office of Open Records Counsel, Tim Burchett|0 Comments

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett filed comments with the Office of Open Records Counsel today, expressing opposition to charging taxpayers to inspect public documents, saying it would be a step backward. Burchett wrote: As a former state senator, I had the opportunity to sponsor bills updating and strengthening portions of the current Open Records Act. As a legislator, my focus was – and remains today – on ensuring openness and transparency in government. Accountability begins with access, and true accountability means reducing, not increasing, obstacles to access public records. Charging taxpayers for exercising their right to merely inspect the very documents their taxes [...]

31 Aug, 2015

TCOG answers state’s 5 questions on charging fees for public records

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-10T08:51:27-06:00August 31, 2015|Categories: fees, Office of Open Records Counsel, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Advisory Committee on Open Government, fees for public records, Office of Open Records Counsel, redactions, Schedule of Reasonable Charges|0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel is posing five questions about charging fees for public records at upcoming hearings Sept. 15-17 in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson. Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth is gathering comments in advance of making a recommendation in January on whether the law should be changed to allow governments to charge citizens to look at public records. Following are TCOG's responses to the five questions. 1. Should the TPRA (Tennessee Public Records Act) permit record custodians to charge for inspection of public records? No. New fees would choke off citizen access to a wide swath of public records. Plain and simple, we believe that allowing government to [...]