The Secretary of State's Office would gain nearly $1 million in new annual revenue under a bill that allows it to take over the business of advertising foreclosure sales from local community newspapers where they have appeared for years.
When I talk with citizen groups in Tennessee about open government, people tell me they want more information about what their government is doing, not less. An informed citizenry results in better and more accountable government. But in plain language, people just want to know what’s going on, particularly when it affects their lives directly. How do people get informed? How does information about what government is doing flow to the public? And in this day and age, what methods are reliable, trustworthy and accurate? One reliable way is through the public notice laws. Government entities in Tennessee are required by law to publish public notices in local newspapers about [...]
The Tennessee Press Association, writing on behalf of its 125 member newspapers, has requested that the Office of Open Records Counsel update its Model Public Records Policy to reflect that government entities "cannot ban carte blanche the taking of pictures of public records by cell phone cameras." Lee Pope, the state's new Open Records Counsel. The office, which was created by the Legislature in 2008 to provide educational outreach on the public records laws, included in its Model Public Records Policy this model language, with a choice for government entities: A requestor will [not] be allowed to make copies of records with personal equipment. [Indicate under what circumstances, [...]
The Office of Open Records Counsel has set public hearings for Sept. 15-17 in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson to gather input on whether citizens should have to pay local and state government to inspect public records. The hearings on public records fees are being conducted after the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Tennessee Press Association opposed bills in the last legislative session that would allow for the first time local governments and state agencies to charge labor fees to provide public records for citizen inspection. Currently, Tennessee law allows citizens free access to inspect public records, but allows charges if the citizen wants copies. TCOG, TPA and other [...]
From Associated Press: The Associated Press and the Tennessee Press Association will hold their annual Newsmakers Session Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Doubletree Nashville, 315 Fourth Ave. North, downtown Nashville. The event is part of the TPA's annual winter convention. The AP session starts at 8:30 a.m. in Salon E and concludes about 11:45 a.m. It's open to all media organizations and focuses on public policy issues as the General Assembly starts its work this session. Here's the lineup: 9 a.m., New polling about Medicaid expansion and other issues by Middle Tennessee State University pollster Jason Reineke 9:30 a.m., Tennessee GOP Chairman Chris Devaney discusses politics headed into a presidential [...]
