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Update: Chattanooga judges release job applications after AG’s advice

By Deborah Fisher|2017-01-06T15:26:27-06:00June 4, 2014|Categories: Attorney General Opinions, state records|Tags: AG opinion, Chancellor Frank Brown, Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton, Chattanooga, open records, Times Free Press|0 Comments

Hamilton County Chancellor Jeffery Atherton Hamilton County Chancellor Frank Brown In a story being followed by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, two judges who had denied the newspaper access to job applications for the county's Clerk and Master position reversed course and released the documents. The judges had originally told the Times Free Press that even if the applications were public records, they thought the privacy of the applicants "outweigh the public's right to know." They then sealed the records by issuing a court order in a highly unusual move considering there was no current litigation before them in which they had jurisdiction to issue an [...]

Hamilton County judges say privacy of job applicants outweighs Public Records Act

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports today about an unusual move by two Hamilton County judges to seal information about applicants to that county's Clerk and Master position, issuing an order without any pending litigation before their courts. The newspaper had requested a list of applicants to the $103,795 job, which is appointed by the judges as one of their administrative duties. At first, one of the judges, Chancellor W. Frank Brown, responded to the request saying the court does not believe the public has a right to names, and media should offer the same confidentiality to candidates for the clerk and master post that it gives to victims of [...]