TCOG news

1 Nov, 2016

Nashville chosen for 2017 NFOIC Summit

By |2017-03-05T18:09:40-06:00November 1, 2016|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The National Freedom of Information Coalition, an alliance of state open government groups and freedom of information supporters, has selected Nashville for it 2017 summit. The 2017 NFOIC Summit will be held in Nashville on Sept. 29-30. The two-day annual NFOIC summit event brings together state-based nonprofit FOI organizations, academic and First Amendment centers, journalists, citizens and attorneys to discuss trends in laws, policies and practices at state and local levels throughout the United States. Its focus is on transparency in government and access to government information. The two-day conference will be Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6 and 7, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14, and will be co-hosted by NFOIC [...]

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26 Oct, 2016

TCOG files amicus brief in Sumner County case over emailed public records request

By |2016-10-28T08:03:53-05:00October 26, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment

The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has filed an amicus curiae brief with the Court of Appeals in Nashville in a case in which the Sumner County Board of Education argues that government entities do not have to accept a public records request sent by email. The case stems from a public records request made by citizen Kenneth Jakes in March 2014 to inspect the Sumner County Board of Education's public records policy. The school district denied the request, saying the method in which Jakes made the request -- by email and a followup phone call -- did not meet their requirements. Jakes was told he had to mail the request through the U.S. [...]

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18 Feb, 2016

TCOG Board elects Memphis attorney Lucian Pera as new president, names executive committee

By |2016-02-18T07:12:48-06:00February 18, 2016|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

Memphis attorney Lucian Pera has been named as the new President of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to improve citizen access to public information and open government in the state. Lucian Pera Pera, a partner with the Memphis office of Adams and Reese LLP, has served as a member of TCOG’s Board of Directors since 2007 and as its vice president since 2010. Adam Yeomans, the Associated Press Regional Director for the South, was elected as vice president. The board also re-elected to new terms on the executive committee Marian Ott as treasurer and Dorothy Bowles as secretary. Pera succeeds Doug [...]

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19 Jan, 2016

TCOG adds 5 new members to its Board of Directors

By |2016-01-19T10:46:47-06:00January 19, 2016|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, a nonprofit organization that promotes government transparency, has named five new members to its Board of Directors. They are: Victor Ashe, former Knoxville mayor, state representative, state senator and U.S. Ambassador to Poland Braden Boucek, litigation director and representative for The Beacon Center of Tennessee Hedy Weinberg, executive director of ACLU-TN John Williams, attorney with Tune, Entrekin & White, P.C. Larry Wood, general manager of WNWS-FM, NewsTalk 101.5 FM in Jackson TCOG is a non-partisan organization founded in 2003 whose mission rests on the belief that citizen access to government information, through public records and public meetings, is crucial in allowing informed [...]

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28 Aug, 2015

TCOG plans comment for public records hearings: New fees would choke off citizen oversight

By |2015-08-30T03:24:20-05:00August 28, 2015|Categories: fees, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel is conducting public records hearings in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson in September to ask the question: Should the Tennessee Public Records Act permit the government to charge citizens to inspect public records? The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government believes that charging citizens to view public records would make it easier for some government officials to block citizen access to records. We believe that the result of a change in Tennessee law would be immediate: Some citizens would no longer be able to view public records because they could not afford to pay the fees. The change would roll back Tennessee’s legal tradition of favoring [...]

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