Tennessee State Museum Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

22 May, 2019

2019 Legislative Report: New exemptions to Public Records Act, and bills that failed or were delayed

By Deborah Fisher|2021-10-14T14:32:58-05:00May 22, 2019|Categories: economic development, exemptions, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: 911 calls, anti-slapp, college sports, confidentiality agreements, economic development, harassment, jail booking mug shots, juvenile court records, meeting agendas, photos of public records, school bus video, settlement agreements, sexual harassment, tax credits, Tennessee State Museum, trade secrets, traffic accident reports|0 Comments

Following is a list of new public records exemptions and other public record laws passed by the 111th General Assembly, plus some proposals that failed or were delayed until next year. TCOG 2019 Legislative Report (If you would like to print this, here is the legislative report in PDF format without photos.) The new exemptions add to a list that is nearing 600. Citizens can expect some bills related to public records to re-emerge when the Legislature reconvenes Jan. 14, 2020. One of the more significant bills that was delayed, but attracted a lot of attention late in the session, would create a process for an injunction against a public [...]

10 Oct, 2017

State museum board rescinds controversial “code of conduct” policy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-10T09:44:54-05:00October 10, 2017|Categories: Legislature|Tags: free press, free speech, state museum board, State Sen. Mike Bell, Tennessee State Museum, Tom Smith|0 Comments

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission has rescinded a controversial code of conduct policy that had required board members to notify the commission before they talked to the media and threatened ouster of board members who didn't follow the rules. State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville The code of conduct policy came under fierce criticism by lawmakers at a Joint Government Operations Committee meeting in August. Several were appalled at the restrictive speech policy and one said it appeared to be an attempt to silence museum board member and former Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe. The code of conduct policy prohibited board members from saying anything that would "disparage" the [...]

15 Aug, 2017

Tennessee Journal: Museum retreats from new code of ethics in face of legislator attacks

By Deborah Fisher|2017-08-15T15:40:54-05:00August 15, 2017|Categories: Legislature|Tags: state museum board, Tennessee State Museum|0 Comments

The Tennessee Journal did a good writeup on what happened at the Joint Operations Committee Hearing, in which the state museum commission's new code of conduct policy was under scrutiny. From Tom Humphrey with The Tennessee Journal: The chairman of the Tennessee State Museum’s governing board pledged that the panel would reconsider its controversial “code of ethics” in the face of round of strong criticism from state legislators at a hearing Tuesday. “Do you want to take the legislature on?” asked Senate Government Operations Committee Chairman Mike Bell, R-Riceville, addressing Thomas Smith, chairman of the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission at the outset of a hearing. An hour and a [...]

15 Aug, 2017

TCOG raises serious concerns about museum commission’s restrictive speech policy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-08-16T16:12:07-05:00August 15, 2017|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: Henry Walker, state museum board, State Rep. Jeremy Faison, State Sen. Mike Bell, Tennessee State Museum, Victor Ashe|1 Comment

The Joint Government Operations Committee held a public hearing today on the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission's new restrictive speech policy for its commissioners. Below are comments I delivered as TCOG's executive director outlining why the policy is at odds with open government, the Tennessee Constitution and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. My comments were part of the public comments part of the hearing, which followed about an hour of questions from members of the joint committee, led by its two chairmen state Sen. Mike Bell and state Rep. Jeremy Faison. Almost all of the lawmakers expressed deep concern about the commission's new policy and how it came about. [...]

14 Jul, 2017

Dear Tennessee museum commissioners, the state constitution is not a relic yet

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-14T13:35:45-05:00July 14, 2017|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: free press, free speech, state museum board, Tennessee State Museum|0 Comments

This week's account of a state worker snatching a meeting agenda packet from a news reporter’s hands was a low point in the open government ethic of Tennessee. I wish it were the only one. At a public meeting of the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission, Nashville Scene reporter Cari Wade Gervin picked up a meeting packet laying on the table that contained a proposed new operating policy, including a new Code of Conduct for commissioners. She was trying to copy down information in it. Also see: State museum commission restricts speech, communication with the press The Nashville Scene reported that the museum’s media relations officer grabbed the document out of [...]