public comment

10 Nov, 2025

Advisory Committee on Open Government to discuss public comment, bylaws at meeting Thursday

By |2025-11-10T14:49:10-06:00November 10, 2025|Categories: Advisory Committee on Open Government|Tags: , |0 Comments

The Advisory Committee on Open Government is expected to approve its public comment policy and bylaws on Thursday and suggest potential topics to discuss at future meetings. The meeting is the second of the committee's this year and will be at 9 a.m. (CT) Thursday at the Comptroller's Office at the Cordell Hull building. The agenda largely includes organizational items as the committee just began meeting again in August after a hiatus that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee selected co-chairs at its Aug. 25 meeting — Brian Lapps, general counsel for the Tennessee Board of Regents, and Elisha Hodge, who has previously served as the Open Records Counsel [...]

16 Jan, 2025

Public comment for property developments would be eliminated under proposed bill

By |2025-01-20T14:28:05-06:00January 16, 2025|Categories: Legislature, public comment|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Public comment periods would be eliminated at county commission and city council meetings for applications for new property developments if the proposed development substantially complies with previously reviewed zoning regulations or maps under a bill introduced this week.

24 May, 2023

New laws require local government to provide agenda, public comment periods

By |2023-05-24T11:54:07-05:00May 24, 2023|Categories: Legislature, meeting agenda, public comment|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment

The General Assembly made two major changes to the Open Meetings Act this year. One new law requires that county and city legislative bodies provide an agenda 48 hours in advance of the meeting. The agenda must "reasonably describe" each agenda item. The other requires all governing bodies set aside a period for public comment, allowing citizens to speak about items on the agenda.

3 Mar, 2023

Proposed public comment law passes key House Committee

By |2023-03-03T11:56:33-06:00March 3, 2023|Categories: Legislature|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The bill would require governing bodies to set aside a time for public comment at all governing body meetings except those in which there are no actionable items on the agenda and those in which the governing body is conducting a disciplinary hearing. The bill also allows a governing body to set time limits and require the person to give advance notice of their wish to speak.

20 Feb, 2023

Proposed law would require public comment periods

By |2023-02-20T10:02:07-06:00February 20, 2023|Categories: Legislature, public comment|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Public comment periods would be required at governing body meetings under a bill filed by Knoxville state representative Elaine Davis and Calhoun senator Adam Lowe. The bill allows governing body members to set rules around public comment periods, such as limiting the amount of time of the period and the amount of time of each speaker. The bill requires a public comment period for citizens to comment on items "that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting."

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