Tennessee State Museum Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

14 Jul, 2017

New museum director says it will start providing meeting agendas to reporters

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T10:58:20-05:00July 14, 2017|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: agenda packets, agendas, Ashley Howell, Nashville Scene, Tennessee State Museum|0 Comments

The new executive director of the Tennessee State Museum said on Friday that it will start proactively providing to media members copies of meeting agendas and agenda packets after an incident on Monday in which a Nashville Scene reporter covering a museum commission meeting was prevented from seeing such materials. Tennessee State Museum Director Ashley Howell “In the future, the Tennessee State Museum will proactively provide all members of the media copies of agendas and accompanying materials for each Commission meeting in keeping with the practice of most state agencies," said executive director Ashley Howell in a statement and through a phone call. "The museum’s management values transparency, [...]

11 Jul, 2017

State museum commission restricts speech, communication with the press

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-11T16:16:35-05:00July 11, 2017|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: First Amendment, speech restrictions, state museum board, Tennessee State Museum, Tom Smith, Victor Ashe|1 Comment

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission adopted a new code of conduct on Monday that requires all commission members except for the chair and vice-chair to provide advance notification to the entire commission of any comments that they make to the public before making them. The policy would cover any communication with the press, or any public comments or written comments. The commission also decided it would apply to social media. "Should a Commissioner, excluding the Chair and Vice-Chair, publish any written statement, including blogs, or give any public statement regarding the Commission, Museum, Executive Director, or Museum personnel the Commissioner shall provide the Commission with an advance copy of [...]

15 May, 2017

New laws passed in 2017 affect access to public records

By Deborah Fisher|2022-01-10T10:22:19-06:00May 15, 2017|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, Public Records, requests|Tags: addresses, audibility of public meeting, Bill Haslam, body cameras, bus safety complaints, crime victims, economic development records, electronic meetings, health care exams, lawmaker travel, police, requests by email, state parks, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. Darren Jernigan, State Sen. Doug Overbey, State Sen. Ken Yager, State Sen. Lee Harris, tax credits, TBI, TCOG news, Tennessee State Museum, vendors|0 Comments

TCOG Legislative Report 2017 Following is a summary of new laws affecting access to government information. They include 7 new exceptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act, 2 existing exemptions partially rolled back, 1 new law improving access to records in general, 1 new law creating criminal penalties for releasing certain confidential information, and 3 new laws improving government records for better accountability. 1 - Requiring acceptance of public records requests through email State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, brought this legislation after an expensive legal dispute in her home county of Sumner County where the school district refused to accept public records requests by [...]

8 Sep, 2016

News-Sentinel: Details about Tennessee State Museum donors should be public

By Deborah Fisher|2016-09-08T16:59:08-05:00September 8, 2016|Categories: Public Records|Tags: Bill Haslam, Herbert Slatery, Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee State Museum|0 Comments

The Knoxville News-Sentinel makes the case that a foundation that was set up entirely for one purpose - to raise money for the state-owned Tennessee State Museum - should disclose details about donations that will help fund a new building. The foundation has a big job: It's supposed to raise $160 million to add to the $120 million committed by the Legislature for a new place. Gov. Bill Haslam is leading the fundraising effort. And it's an admirable cause. We don't have to go into too much detail here about the need for transparency in foundations with ties to government or government officials. In this case, there's an easy answer that would [...]

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