The Drew Johnson Amendment

By Kleinheider Posted on December 17, 2008 at 2:10 pm

The Office of Open Records Counsel met today with its advisory committee to help shape policy to deal with folks who make frequent and multiple requests for public records:

Under the policy, records custodians may assess a fee for any labor reasonably necessary to produce the request after one hour. Requests for items that are routinely released and readily accessible, such as agendas or minutes, are exempt from the policy.

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Tags: Bill Hobbs, Drew Johnson, open government, open records, public records, Tennessee Center For Policy Research, The Office of Open Records Counsel  

Senate Bigwigs Back down From Quid Pro Quo On Open Government

By Kleinheider Posted on April 23, 2008 at 10:48 am

John Rodgers reports on big open government news this morning out the Senate Finance Committee. It appears that the quest for a quid pro quo from open government groups has been abandoned:

The Senate Finance Committee gave its unanimous approval this morning to the first major change to the state’s open records law in 25 years, sending the measure to the Senate floor.

The Finance Committee approved the bill after Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis backed away from a move to require good government groups involved in the open records bill to disclose where they received their funding.

See the bill here and Rodgers explanation of the differences between the Senate and House versions here.

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Tags: Doug Henry, Jim Kyle, open government, Senate Finance Committee  

A Public Records Quid Pro Quo

By Kleinheider Posted on April 22, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Some of legislators want to know more about those clamoring for open government laws before they go voting on any legislation that would let you keep tabs on what they are up to:

Democratic Sens. Douglas Henry, of Nashville, and Jim Kyle, of Memphis, argued that groups like the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and Common Cause of Tennessee should be required to give more comprehensive information about their memberships if they are to be added to an advisory panel on open government.

Frank Gibson, who heads the coalition, says he’s willing to give more details about his group’s members. The Associated Press is a member.

The Senate Finance Committee decided to put off a vote on the measure sponsored by Sen. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, until Wednesday.

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Tags: Doulas Henry, Jim Kyle, open government, public records, quid pro quo, The Department Of Beeswax Not Yours