public records requests Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

13 Dec, 2016

The Daily Times: Model records policy should not aid wallbuilders, suggest loopholes

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-13T08:01:48-06:00December 13, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel|Tags: model public records policy, Office of Open Records Counsel, public records requests, requests by email, The Daily Times|0 Comments

We should listen to journalists in the field when it comes to access to public records. Buzz Trexler, editor at The Daily Times in Maryville, reminds me of a question I was once asked in a TV interview: What's the hardest public record to get? My answer: The record a government official doesn't want you to have. Too often, journalists are given the runaround or hit roadblocks when a public official for some reason doesn't want "the media" to have access to some public record, or want to delay news that the public record would convey. My observation has been that citizens, without the support of a media organization behind [...]

Read TCOG’s comments on proposed model public records policy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-02-20T09:04:33-06:00December 8, 2016|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, requests, TCOG letters, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Adam Yeomans, Advisory Committee on Open Government, Ann Butterworth, citizen id, model public records policy, Office of Open Records Counsel, open data, public records requests, requests by email, Sumner County School Board, TCOG news|0 Comments

TCOG Letter on Model Public Records Policy 12-7-16 Tennessee Coalition for Open Government provided written feedback Wednesday on the Office of Open Records Counsel's proposed "Best Practices & Guidelines and Model Public Records Policy." This policy is important because it is intended as a model for all government entities in the state as they move to adopt public records policies as required by a new law. Parts of the guidelines and model policy are beneficial to citizens and government entities -- such as an emphasis on the statutory requirement that public records requests be handled promptly. Adam Yeomans is TCOG's representative on the Advisory Committee on Open Government. He is [...]

Why can’t I access public records in Tennessee? A particular problem for “border” journalists

By Deborah Fisher|2016-03-31T14:56:29-05:00March 31, 2016|Categories: requests|Tags: Chattanooga, non-residents, public records requests|0 Comments

A freelance journalist who lives near Chattanooga "literally two blocks" from the state line gives her perspective on the city's policy to deny her access to public records because she lives in Georgia. She makes a good case for why that policy doesn't make sense. See Cari Wade Gervin's column in Chattanooga Times Free Press: Expand access to records to all citizens Tennessee state law provides a right of access to citizens of the state of all public records. That doesn't mean government entities cannot provide public records to non-residents, they just don't have to. That position was upheld in 2013 in a Virginia case by the U. S. Supreme [...]