News Sentinel files lawsuit over sealed court documents in UT rape case
The Knoxville News Sentinel filed a lawsuit today, after requesting for more than a year to inspect court records and exhibits in the aggravated rape cases against former Tennessee football Continue...
View ArticleVendor confidentiality bill moves out of key House committee
A Haslam administration bill that would make confidential the names of vendors who provide goods and services “used to protect government property, government employee information, or citizen...
View ArticleThe Tennessean urges Sumner school board to release legal bills in public...
After receiving heavily redacted copies of legal bills for Sumner County Schools, the Gallatin News Examiner, Hendersonville Star News and The Tennessean sent a letter to the school district last...
View ArticleMemphis presents policy to deny access to body cam video, moves forward with...
The Commercial Appeal reports today that the city of Memphis is moving ahead with a multimillion-dollar plan to equip its police officers with body cams, but also presented a policy Continue Reading...
View ArticleCA: Indefinite holding of police body-cam video would destroy purpose of...
The Commercial Appeal makes the point in an editorial over the weekend that a proposed policy to keep body cam video confidential until after an investigation into a police-involved shooting Continue...
View ArticleTennessee to consider open data standards under proposed legislation
A bill that would create a task force to study the feasibility of state government to utilize an open data policy cleared the House State Government Committee on Tuesday. The Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleMemphis mayor says body cam video cannot be released if part of investigation
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told Memphis TV journalist Greg Coy that video footage from body cam video cannot be released if the event it records is under investigation. The quote came Continue...
View ArticleAppeals Court denies Sumner Schools request; deadline to fix public records...
The Court of Appeals in Nashville today denied a request by Sumner County Schools to delay enforcement of a judge’s order to bring their public records policy into compliance with Continue Reading...
View ArticleModel public records policy to be developed under proposed bill
State Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, presented an addition to state law Wednesday that would require each government entity in Tennessee to adopt a written public records policy and designate a Continue...
View ArticleBill clarifies Comptroller exemption for confidential audit work
An existing exemption that makes confidential audit work in the Comptroller’s Office is being expanded to also include records from surveys, but won’t include surveys done by the Office of Open...
View ArticleThe Tennessean: School board to accept voicemail for records inspection
The Sumner County School Board met last night to adopt a new policy on public records requests after a judge last year said their policy violated state law. They had Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleIf you ever wondered about the importance of access to public records, watch...
There’s a great scene about public records in the movie Spotlight, which is based on the true story of The Boston Globe’s investigative reporting of child sex abuse by Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleTennessee Supreme Court says police records in active cases cannot be...
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that any record that is part of a police department’s criminal investigation cannot be disclosed except to the defendant in certain situations. The opinion...
View ArticleNew Tennessee law could make requesting public records less confusing
From Associated Press: The state Legislature has passed a bill that will require nearly every government office across Tennessee to tell citizens how they can get public records. The measure Continue...
View ArticleNews-Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy on police records and the Supreme Court...
From Jack McElroy, editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, in a column published Sunday: Boy, did Gary Wade touch a nerve. The former Supreme Court justice dissented in the media’s Continue Reading...
View ArticleHouse committee kills body cam bill, sends it to study by ACOG
The House State Government Committee today killed a bill that would have closed access to body cam footage, including footage related to questions of police use of force and misconduct. Continue...
View ArticleWatch the video, read excerpts, from House Committee meeting on body cam video
Discussion by members of the House State Government Committee about body cam video legislation that would close access to records mostly centered on how best to avoid advancing the bill Continue...
View ArticleWhy can’t I access public records in Tennessee? A particular problem for...
A freelance journalist who lives near Chattanooga “literally two blocks” from the state line gives her perspective on the city’s policy to deny her access to public records because she Continue Reading...
View ArticleNews-Sentinel praises delay on body camera legislation
The Knoxville News-Sentinel in a Sunday editorial praises a House committee’s decision to delay body camera legislation and wait for a study by the Advisory Committee on Open Government: The Continue...
View ArticleTBI keeps video of police shooting secret, though deputy back on duty
Just one week after a House State Government committee asked for a full study on body camera footage, a reporter in Sevierville continues to struggle to access police camera footage from Continue...
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