Not all government public records policies are helping to make records more accessible to residents — especially for those who can’t easily prove state residency — a new audit from the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has found. The audit of municipalities, counties and school districts found that 84 percent of the 259 policies obtained and analyzed by the nonprofit advocacy group between October and March required the person making a request to provide identification proving Tennessee residency. “It’s an example of a requirement that seems to have very little purpose,” said Deborah Fisher, executive director of TCOG. “Even if the person wasn’t a citizen of Tennessee, why would you withhold the minutes of a public meeting?”
Bristol Herald Courier
Though most cities, counties and school districts in Tennessee list in their policies contact information for who will handle public records requests, less than half included an email address to which the public can direct those requests. That’s one of the findings of an audit of government entities across the state by the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, which examined 259 policies between October and March. Under a state law passed in 2016, government entities in Tennessee were required to establish a written policy by July 1, 2017, on requests for public records, including the name, title and contact information for the person in charge of coordinating public record requests. State law also requires that government entities using email to transact business must accept records requests through email.
Bristol Herald Courier
Click here for the TCOG audit
The Trump administration is again fighting for greater secrecy in a Clinton-focused investigation: this time, the independent counsel probe that explored President Bill Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. A raft of court records from grand jury-related proceedings related to the investigation have remained secret for two decades, but last month a federal judge — acting on a request from CNN — ruled that the vast majority of the files should be made public. But early Wednesday, the Justice Department appealed that decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The move is likely to delay the release of the request information for months or longer.
Politico
|
![quote_2.jpg](http://img-ak.verticalresponse.com/email_layout/3407/quote_2.jpg)
“Even if the person wasn’t a citizen of Tennessee, why would you withhold the minutes of a public meeting?”
|