Todd Presnell Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

13 Nov, 2015

Judge rules Sumner County Schools violated public records law, orders it to stop

By Deborah Fisher|2015-11-16T07:35:58-06:00November 13, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: Jeremy Johnson, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, Kirk Clements, litigation, public records request, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

GALLATIN -- Nearly 20 months after citizen Ken Jakes requested to see the Sumner County Schools public records policy, Sumner County Judge Dee Gay ruled today that the school district violated Tennessee Public Records law by withholding it. He ordered the district to stop its practices and adopt a new policy for dealing with public records requests. Seated left to right: Citizen Ken Jakes, Sumner Schools attorney Jim Fuqua, school communications official Jeremy Johnson and attorney Todd Presnell listen to the judge's ruling that the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act. The school's attorney asked for a 30-day stay on the judge's order, which Gay granted, [...]

31 Jul, 2015

Judge says Sumner County Schools denied public records request, but not willful

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:14:58-06:00July 31, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: attorneys' fees, Jeremy Johnson, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, litigation, public records request, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay said Thursday in preliminary findings that Sumner County Schools denied a public records request from open government advocate Ken Jakes, but that he heard no proof that showed the district was willful in its actions. Gay said he would make a final ruling in November on whether the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act when it denied Jakes' request on the basis that he did not follow the local district's requirement that he make the request in person or through the U.S. Postal Service. Jakes had emailed his request, following up with a voice mail, asking in March 2014 to inspect the [...]

29 Jul, 2015

Public records practices of Sumner County Schools under scrutiny at trial

By Deborah Fisher|2015-07-30T05:27:34-05:00July 29, 2015|Categories: requests|Tags: Jeremy Johnson, Jim Fuqua, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, Kirk Clements, public records request, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|1 Comment

Ken Jakes, an open government advocate and a candidate for an at-large council position on Nashville’s Metro Council, is expected to testify Thursday morning in a public records lawsuit he brought against Sumner County Schools. Jakes sued after making a request in March 2014 to inspect the school district’s public records policy. District officials say his request, though they received it, was not valid because he sent it by email. Jakes also followed up with a phone call and left a voice mail. At issue is whether Sumner County Schools officials can refuse to respond to a public records request if it is received by email. The district’s policy at [...]

11 Jan, 2015

Judge allows public records lawsuit against Sumner County schools to proceed

By Deborah Fisher|2015-01-12T14:51:08-06:00January 11, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: Del Phillips, Jeremy Johnson, Judge Dee David Gay, Ken Jakes, Kirk Clements, litigation, public records request, requests by email, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Todd Presnell|0 Comments

Sumner County Judge Dee David Gay listens to arguments by attorney Kirk Clements, who says his client was wrongly denied access to public records. GALLATIN -- The Sumner County School Board lost the first round in a court fight Friday to be able to reject public records requests from citizens who make those requests by email or phone. The school district’s policy requires citizens to make public records requests by U.S. mail or by appearing in person, according to Jeremy Johnson, the school district’s board and community relations supervisor. Because of this, Johnson told citizen Ken Jakes that his request by email to view a public record was [...]