AP: Tennessee officials told to avoid emailing about outsourcing
From the Associated Press, by way of the Chattanooga Times Free Press – a story about government email: NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Officials mulling over the privatization of operations at state Continue...
View ArticleAP: Haslam defends recommendation for advisers to avoid email
Another story on government email from Erik Schelzig with the Associated Press: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gov. Bill Haslam is defending a practice among his outsourcing advisers to avoid email Continue...
View ArticlePolice, ACLU, open government advocates talk body cam footage
Representatives from police, the ACLU, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, the Tennessee Press Association and one of the largest vendors of body cams offered thoughts today to the state...
View ArticleBringing in TBI to investigate deadly force by police raises transparency...
The Tennessean reports today that two of the state’s major police departments – Knoxville and Nashville – are opposed to a proposal that would hand all investigations into local police Continue Reading...
View ArticleKnoxville News Sentinel: State holds back emails on outsourcing project
Governor Bill Haslam’s office released 72 pages of emails of his chief operating officer in charge of the state’s building-management outsourcing project, but held back some, saying they fell under...
View ArticleHaslam administration slow to share economic incentives for development deal
Why is the Haslam administration so hush-hush on how much in economic incentive dollars it is giving to companies? In a case that Knoxville News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy uses Continue Reading...
View ArticleHow cop cameras are addressed by ACLU, Florida law and others
An article today in The Tennessean outlines some of the conversation taking place about the use of body cameras by local law enforcement, with the city of Franklin’s police chief Continue Reading...
View ArticleWhy did Tennessee rank 37th in public access to information?
Tennessee ranked 37th among states in public access to information in the Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 State Integrity report released on Monday. I was among those who contributed information for...
View ArticleJudge rules Sumner County Schools violated public records law, orders it to stop
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 Continue Reading...
View ArticleWhat we learned from a citizen’s fight for public records in Sumner County
At a cost of about three or four college educations at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Sumner County’s school officials and school board just got educated about the state’s public records...
View ArticleGibson County court clerk refuses to release public documents
The Jackson Sun tried yesterday to get a copy of indictments against 12 current and former employees of the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office. But the Circuit Court Clerk refused to Continue Reading...
View ArticleSumner schools will appeal judge’s ruling in open records case
The Sumner County school board voted last night unanimously to appeal a ruling by a local judge in an open records case where they were found to violate the law in Continue Reading Tennessee Coalition...
View ArticleNew Memphis mayor to change city’s public records process, move it out of legal
New Memphis mayor Jim Strickland plans to implement at least one of the recommendations from a report earlier this year that suggested an overhaul of how the city handles public records Continue...
View ArticleVanderbilt Poll: 85 percent of Tennesseans think no fee should be charged to...
A Vanderbilt University poll recently found that 85 percent of Tennesseans think inspection of public records should remain free for citizens. Two lawmakers filed bills this year that proposed allowing...
View ArticleReport: Fiscal impact of tax breaks kept confidential
Tom Humphrey reports in his Humphrey on the Hill blog about a report to the state’s Fiscal Review Committee last week that highlights an inability to measure the cost of tax Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleTBI investigative file released in Memphis police shooting case
The Shelby County District Attorney has posted on her website TBI’s investigative files into the shooting death of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart by a Memphis police officer in what may be one of Continue...
View ArticleCommercial Appeal: Focus on police shootings draws attention to policy secrecy
Memphis investigative reporter Marc Perrusquia provided an outstanding overview in The Commercial Appeal on Sunday of the legal exemption for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that allows it to...
View ArticleJudge blasts Sumner Schools for refusing to update its public records policy,...
Last week, Sumner County Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay unleashed a verbal whipping to the Sumner County School Board when they argued to stay his order to update its public Continue Reading...
View ArticleNashville General hospital report outlining deficiencies exempt from public...
Nashville General has declined to release its report from the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation that identified “serious deficiencies in several areas including patient safety, infection...
View ArticleSumner Schools files emergency motion with Appeals Court over public records...
The Sumner County Board of Education, whose legal bills have now mounted to more than $113,000, has made an emergency motion to the Court of Appeals to stay a judge’s Continue Reading Tennessee...
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