Haile seeks open government assistance with effort to block ‘malicious’ records requests
Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) is asking for help from the Tennessee Advisory Council on Open Government to craft legislation aimed at blocking abusive public records requests. Haile has introduced a bill aimed at accomplishing that goal, but his efforts have foundered amid concerns that a new law would also affect the ability of citizens, the media, and researchers to obtain public records.
Here is the full release from Haile:
NASHVILLE – Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) said today he has asked the Tennessee Advisory Council on Open Government to review legislation he is sponsoring to discourage malicious abuse of Tennessee’s public records requests process. Haile sponsored legislation during the 2020 session of the Tennessee General Assembly to curtail the practice and plans to reintroduce it when the legislature convenes in January.
He is asking for the Council’s input to protect the integrity of Tennessee’s open record law, while preventing repeated abuse when requests serve no purpose other than to harass local governments and their employees.
“We need open government and this legislation is not intended in any way to interfere with our public records request process or to discourage such requests,” said Senator Haile. “This legislation is about the few people who abuse our public record laws to bully and harass government agencies by repeatedly making requests that any reasonable person would deem has no purpose except for harassment. The legislation will have no effect on other citizens. Also, media outlets, academic researchers, investigators, or those independently engaged in gathering information for publication or broadcast are exempt from provisions of the bill.”
The legislation allows a records custodian to seek an injunction against an individual who makes six or more requests that constitutes harassment within a one-year period after providing the requestor with notice after the fifth such request. Harassment is defined as conduct that is not made for any legitimate purpose and is made maliciously or seriously abuses, intimidates, threatens, or harasses. The public records custodian must petition the court in such cases in the appropriate jurisdiction for an order enjoining the person from making further requests. A court can find that an individual’s record request constitutes harassment and enjoin a person from requesting records for up to a year.
A records custodian who petitions a court for an injunction must also provide a written report to the Office of Open Records Counsel that includes a copy of the petition and any injunction or orders issued by the court. It will also become part of the Counsel’s annual report to further track these cases and ensure the integrity of the state’s open records law remains in tact. The measure will sunset in 2024 when it will be reevaluated for that purpose.
“Honest inquires are what our open records law is meant to protect,” added Haile. “The proposal is not meant to discourage citizens from requesting information, nor is it intended for a county attorney or city attorney to use this against folks who are irritated with someone or upset with some aspect of their government. This is a positive appeal that will help those who seek to have open government and it will help prevent abuse of those who utilize our public records process as a tool to harass those who work for us.”
Lamberth: Bill to block ‘harassing’ requests is part of transparency push
Lawmakers gather in Nashville for the first day of the 111th General Assembly. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
House Majority Leader William Lamberth’s bill seeking to block people deemed to be “harassing” records custodians from obtaining public records is part of what he is calling push for greater transparency in state government.
The Portland Republican’s bill would allow custodians to seek judicial intervention if a member of the public makes three or more annual requests “in a manner that would cause a reasonable person” to feel abused, intimidated, threatened, or harassed. The same would go for people making multiple requests that are “not made in good faith or for any legitimate purpose.”
A release from Lamberth’s office on Friday makes no mention of the specifics of his proposed legislation other than to say it will “protect record custodians.” But he said an amendment is coming to expand government openness by streamlining requests and increasing online access to records.
Here’s the full release from Lamberth’s office:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) today is calling for greater government transparency that will further serve to protect all records custodians, while expanding public availability of open records through increased online access.
“I am calling on both state departments and local governments to evaluate all records that may be placed online and to explore ways to increase availability,” said Leader Lamberth.
Open government group, newspaper ask judge to unseal state’s opioid lawsuit against Purdue Pharma
Statement from Tennessee Coalition for Open Government
We have filed, along with Jack McElroy, editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, a motion to intervene in the state’s opioid lawsuit against Purdue Pharma to oppose and object to any order restricting public access to records, exhibits, testimony, pleadings and other materials in the case.
Review finds some TN government agencies violating law on open records
A newly-released audit shows some government agencies in Tennessee are making it difficult for citizens to access public records and, in some instances, violating state law, reports the Associated Press. It covered city and county governments as well as school districts.
Open records advocates had hoped that a state law that passed in 2016 would make it easier for people to access information that should be publicly available to citizens. But the audit by the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government found that some agencies had adopted rules that were so rigid that they threatened to slow down or thwart the process of getting records.
UT endowment investing in Cayman Islands; details kept secret under law approved by legislature in 2017
The University of Tennessee’s endowment has pumped millions of dollars into private investment funds in recent years, including many chartered in the Cayman Islands, reports the Commercial Appeal, and UT officials university successfully lobbied the Tennessee legislature to pass a law last year that keeps the details of these and other “alternative investments” secret.
As stated in a note accompanying the article, it is part of an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists project.
Publisher and open government champion Sam Kennedy dies at 91
Former Daily Herald publisher Sam Kennedy and Gov. Bill Haslam.
Obituary by Sue McClure and Tony Kessler
Sam Delk Kennedy, the former longtime publisher of The Daily Herald of Columbia and a tireless open government advocate, died Tuesday at the age of 91.
“As Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Broder once said, ‘Sam Kennedy was the real thing,'” said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Maryville). “He presided over the Columbia Daily Herald with an unusual combination of warmth, dignity and utter professionalism.”
“My visits over the years to Sam Kennedy’s office and Mule Day seemed completely intertwined,” Alexander added. “He set a fine example for other editors and journalists and reminded politicians that we should set an example as well.”
Randy Boyd releases tax info — $42M income in past two years
Press release from Randy Boyd campaign
Knoxville, Tenn. – During his two years of public service as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd returned his state salary back to the state and personally paid for all of his own travel and other official expenses – including any use of state aircraft and all other expenses while recruiting businesses to Tennessee from around the world.
Continue reading
On the ‘Hush Fund Elimination Act” and an age discrimination lawsuit against Duncan
While co-sponsoring the “Congressional Accountability and Hush Fund Elimination Act” and enthusiastically supporting its provisions dealing with sexual harassment, the Nashville Post reports that U.S. Reps. Diane Black and Marsha Blackburn are vague on whether it should apply to settlements of other legal claims – such as a payment settling an age discrimination lawsuit brought by one of Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan’s staffers.
Court of Appeals rules for TV station in DA’s libel lawsuit
The state Court of Appeals has unanimously overturned a lower court ruling that would have required Nashville TV station WTVF and reporter Phil Williams to turn over documents related to reporting on Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, who has filed a libel lawsuit.
TDEC hides data on low-level radioactive waste from public
Excerpt from a Tennessean report:
Ten years ago, when Murfreesboro residents learned the state had approved the dumping of low-level radioactive waste at a local landfill, a fierce community backlash swiftly put an end to the practice.
Today, Tennessee citizens have no way to find out how much low-level radioactive waste is going into other landfills.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, or TDEC, has wiped that data from its website and said it is confidential.
