public records lawsuit Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

30 Oct, 2024

TVA fights public records lawsuit over its grants to cryptocurrency mines
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TVA fights public records lawsuit over its grants to cryptocurrency mines

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

TVA fights public records lawsuit over its grants to cryptocurrency mines

By Deborah Fisher|2024-10-30T12:25:51-05:00October 30, 2024|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: economic development records, Knoxville News Sentinel, Paul McAdoo, public records lawsuit, TVA|0 Comments

The Tennessee Valley Authority has refused to release documents about its grants to cryptocurrency companies, including one in Knoxville, and is now fighting a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from a journalist and UT professor over it. TVA claims that releasing how much it gave the company in economic incentives would reveal its own trade secrets and violate the privacy rights of the employees in the companies that received the grants.

3 May, 2024

Improper use of public records not a reason for sanction, appeals court says
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Improper use of public records not a reason for sanction, appeals court says

public records lawsuits Tennessee

Improper use of public records not a reason for sanction, appeals court says

By Deborah Fisher|2024-05-03T11:59:13-05:00May 3, 2024|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Connie Reguli, Court of Appeals, Judge Jeffery Usman, Judge Joseph A. Woodruff, Mayor Rogers Anderson, public records lawsuit, Rule 11 sanctions, Williamson County|0 Comments

Beleaguered Brentwood attorney Connie Reguli may have done many things wrong, but filing a public records request for county billing records wasn't one of them. The Court of Appeals on May 2 overturned a Williamson County judge's sanctions against Reguli who was concerned she would use the records to lobby against continued taxpayer funding of the legal defense of a former county employee accused of sexual assault.

29 Sep, 2017

Appeals court rules economic development organization subject to public records, open meetings law

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:09:55-06:00September 29, 2017|Categories: economic development, functional equivalent, open meetings lawsuits, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Dandridge, economic development records, functional equivalent, Jefferson County, Judge Charles Susano Jr., Judge D. Michael Swiney, Judge Steven Stafford, public records lawsuit|0 Comments

In a win for a group of citizens in East Tennessee, the Court of Appeals in Knoxville ruled this week that a nonprofit economic development organization in Jefferson County is subject to the state's public records and open meetings laws. The court held in Oliver Wood et al. v. Jefferson County Economic Development Oversight Committee, Inc., that the nonprofit organization, which has received between 60 percent to 68 percent of its budget from local governments each year, is the functional equivalent of a government entity and subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The court also ruled that because EDOC has a significant role in making decisions and recommendations to local government [...]

27 Jun, 2017

Judge rules Fall Creek Falls privatization records should be released

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:21:01-05:00June 27, 2017|Categories: exemptions, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Bill Young, Fall Creek Falls, Janet Kleinfelter, John Williams, Katherine Dix, Nashville Scene, privatization, public records lawsuit, request for proposals|0 Comments

In a win for government transparency, Davidson County Chancellor Bill Young ruled today that government records requested by the Nashville Scene regarding the privatization of Fall Creek Falls State Park should be released and are not covered by an exemption in the Tennessee Public Records Act. Davidson County Chancellor Bill Young Under the exemption, proposals for professional services and related records are open for public inspection only after the state has finished evaluating the proposals. However, in this case, no proposals were received by the state’s May 1 deadline from businesses who wanted to operate the state park. The state argued that this meant any government records related [...]

26 Aug, 2016

Judge says Nashville violated law by not providing public records promptly

By Deborah Fisher|2016-10-04T07:45:21-05:00August 26, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Doug Pierce, Judge Robert E. Lee Davies, Metro Nashville, promptly, public records lawsuit, public records request|0 Comments

In what may be the first legal challenge to government delays on public records requests in Tennessee under a 2008 law, a judge has ruled that Metro Nashville violated the “prompt” provision in the statute by holding up traffic accident reports. Senior Judge Robert E. Lee Davies ordered the city to provide access to the reports within 72 hours of their creation. He also found that Metro Nashville Police Department’s request form did not comply with the Public Records Act because it stated that the city had “seven business days to process” a records request, which is contrary to law. Many requesters, including journalists across the state, often complain that [...]