The Tennessean Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

18 May, 2023

Sen. Gardenhire, Tennessean file public records lawsuits; Covenant parents seek to intervene
Gallery
Sen. Gardenhire, Tennessean file public records lawsuits; Covenant parents seek to intervene

crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee

Sen. Gardenhire, Tennessean file public records lawsuits; Covenant parents seek to intervene

By Deborah Fisher|2023-05-19T11:39:51-05:00May 18, 2023|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Audrey Hale, Brent Gibson, Covenant parents, Covenant Presbyterian Church, crime records, crime victims, Eric G. Osborne, Holland & Knight, manifesto, Mike Hagar, Robb Harvey, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, The Covenant School shooting, The Tennessean, Todd Gardenhire|0 Comments

The fight over the release of the Covenant School shooter's manifesto and other writings escalated Wednesday with state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and The Tennessean filing a public records lawsuit against Metro Nashville, and unnamed Covenant School parents filing motions to intervene in the current cases. Also, Assistant Police Chief Mike Hagar and police Lt. Brent Gibson filed declarations that police are still trying to determine if the shooter had any assistance planning the shooting or purchasing the weapons, with Gibson stating that it will take about 12 months to finish the investigation.

17 Mar, 2021

The Tennessean outlines why state won’t release $1.59 million McKinsey report

By Deborah Fisher|2021-03-17T14:24:34-05:00March 17, 2021|Categories: deliberative process privilege|Tags: Gov. Bill Lee, McKinsey and Co., The Tennessean|0 Comments

A $1.59 million report by McKinsey & Co. on restructuring the state's workforce is confidential and won't be released to the public, a state agency has told The Tennessean. The Department of Human Resources told The Tennesseean in a story published March 9 that the taxpayer-funded report was confidential, citing the department's "deliberative process privilege." DHS has acknowledged to The Tennessean that it is planning employee buyouts. The state received the McKinsey report in September. This is not the first time the Gov. Bill Lee administration has asserted the deliberative process exemption to shield written reports. In 2019, the administration claimed they did not have to release written reports from [...]

21 Nov, 2017

TDEC clamps down on public records as tons of radioactive waste heads to Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2017-11-21T08:48:39-06:00November 21, 2017|Categories: exemptions|Tags: Camden, Decatur County, radioactive waste, TDEC, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The state has stopped allowing citizens access to how much low-level radioactive waste is going into landfills, according to a report by Nashville investigative journalist Anita Wadhwani in The Tennessean. Wadhwani reports that this clamp down on data by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation comes at the same time that waste processing companies in Tennessee "have filed notice that they plan to import 10,000 metric tons -- or more than 22 million pounds - of low-level nuclear waste from Canada for processing." It is not clear where that waste would go after processing. The newspaper reported that four Tennessee landfills are currently licensed to accept that type of [...]

17 Sep, 2017

Newspaper probe of economic development reveals big gaps in transparency, accountability

By Deborah Fisher|2017-09-17T18:12:37-05:00September 17, 2017|Categories: economic development|Tags: economic development, Mike Reicher, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The state's four largest newspapers published an examination of local and state economic development programs and came up with this answer: Are Tennessee job subsidies a success? Secrecy makes it nearly impossible to know. Across the country, citizens and some lawmakers have been asking for more accountability and transparency from economic development programs that would show which job subsidies are effective and which are not. This is a pretty cool database that allows you to check on the FastTrack grant program in your county. You can see how many jobs companies in your county promised, and how many they say they have produced. FastTrack grants are one of the [...]

17 Mar, 2016

Tennessee Supreme Court says police records in active cases may be withheld from the public

By Deborah Fisher|2018-08-06T08:47:57-05:00March 17, 2016|Categories: crime records, investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: crime records, Justice Gary Wade, Justice Holly Kirby, Justice Sharon Lee, Tennessee Supreme Court, The Tennessean|0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that any record that is part of an active police department’s criminal investigation may be withheld under the state's public records laws. Justice Sharon Lee The opinion written by Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee gave only brief nod to the media’s role in reporting about crime and law enforcement. Instead, she said the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, which are written by the Tennessee Supreme Court, govern access to police files until a criminal case is over and all appeals are exhausted. “The media plays an important and necessary role in holding government officials accountable. Yet, the General Assembly has rightly recognized that [...]