Bill keeps TBI records about officer-involved shootings confidential unless...
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article referenced language in the original Senate Bill 2023 and House Bill 2091 that required the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to handle investigations into...
View ArticleTwo bills on transparency of police shooting investigations advance in...
A Shelby County state senator and Memphis state representative have both gained passage in legislative committees of different amendments to bills that would govern access to TBI files in police...
View Article15 decisions on public records by the Tennessee Legislature in 2016
This year, Tennessee lawmakers punted on public records bills that could have created new access rights to see police body camera video and files of finished investigations into officer-involved...
View ArticleSo what ever happened to the fees to inspect bill?
Last year at this time, open government advocates in the state had successfully convinced lawmakers to delay action on an ill-conceived proposal to allow government to charge fees to inspect Continue...
View ArticleJackson Sun gets $1,600 public records bill after requesting to see...
The Jackson Sun in a Sunday editorial called for reform of the state’s public records fee schedule after getting a $1,600 public records bill for copies of emails about University of Tennessee at...
View ArticleAG: Search firm records are open in school director search, Open Meetings Act...
The Attorney General in a new opinion says that records in a school director search are open for public inspection, even if the records were obtained by a third party hired Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleNow is the time to address runaway labor fees to access public records
An editorial published in the Sunday editions of the three largest newspapers in Tennessee sent a message about public records: Now is the time to address the inadequate system of charging Continue...
View ArticlePerformance evaluation of UT-M chancellor off limits to public under new law
The Jackson Sun hit a public records roadblock in its ongoing probe into the accreditation problems at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Here’s the short story: Tom Rakes resigned Continue Reading...
View ArticleHaslam staff used private email accounts for state business
While the U.S. State Department’s inspector general on Wednesday released a blistering analysis of Hillary Clinton’s use of private email, back in Tennessee reporter Phil Williams of NewsChannel 5...
View Article72% of Tennesseans think the state is not transparent with economic...
Just how transparent is the state of Tennessee with its economic development programs? In the eyes of Tennesseans, not very. A new poll by icitizen and The Beacon Center of Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleJeremy Durham investigation committee banks on the power of transparency
The special House committee investigating allegations of sexual harassment by state House Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, did the right thing today in releasing its findings. The investigative report,...
View ArticlePoll: Tennesseans universally support access to police body camera footage in...
NASHVILLE — More than 9 in 10 Tennesseans (92%) support public access to police body camera video when it records use of force that results in a citizen’s serious injury Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleJudge says Nashville violated law by not providing public records promptly
In what may be the first legal challenge to government delays on public records requests in Tennessee under a 2008 law, a judge has ruled that Metro Nashville violated the Continue Reading Tennessee...
View ArticleTennessee School Boards Association files amicus in Sumner Schools public...
The Tennessee School Boards Association, which collects dues and represents nearly all school districts in the state, has filed an amicus with the Court of Appeals in a public records Continue Reading...
View ArticleMemphis Bar Association to host deep dive into Darrius Stewart police...
The Memphis Bar Association is hosting “Covering Police-Involved Shootings: A Deep Dive into the Darrius Stewart Case” on Sept. 28 as part of a daylong program bringing together journalists, lawyers...
View ArticleOpen Records Counsel begins work on model public records policy
Open Records Counsel Ann Butterworth told members of the Advisory Committee on Open Government last week that she hopes to have a final version of a new model public records policy finished Continue...
View ArticleAdvisory Committee on Open Government aims for body camera study, public...
The Advisory Committee on Open Government (ACOG) took the first steps toward a police body camera study last week, discussing ideas for public hearings around the state and how it Continue Reading...
View ArticleNews-Sentinel: Details about Tennessee State Museum donors should be public
The Knoxville News-Sentinel makes the case that a foundation that was set up entirely for one purpose – to raise money for the state-owned Tennessee State Museum – should disclose details about...
View ArticleLearning from Memphis: Media coverage of police shootings
In Memphis this week, about 80 news reporters, activists, attorneys and college students came together to examine how media can, should and does cover police shootings. The centerpiece was the Continue...
View ArticleMetro Nashville must pay nearly $57K in attorneys fees in public records case
Senior Judge Robert E. Lee Davies ordered Metro Nashville to pay nearly $57K in attorneys fees to a public records requester, saying that the city “misinterpreted and ignored the ‘promptness’ Continue...
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