The General Assembly hereby declares it to be the policy of this State that the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret,” the Tennessee Code Annotated 8-44-101 states.
The week of March 16, 2008, was Sunshine Week, a week set aside to remind the entire country of their rights to observe governmental procedures and access public records.
Groups like the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government stand in place to provide information about our rights to public information.
They’re greater than you think.
In Murfreesboro, City Council meetings are open to the public, along with Planning Commission meetings, School Board meetings, Historic Commission meetings, and even advisory committee meetings; if the group assembling will make suggestions to a board with voting abilities, then that meeting is open.
That means that any secret meeting of two or more members of these bodies breaks Tennessee’s open government law. In 2004 alone 38 infractions were caught by TCOG.
In a message to the local media, MTSU professor Larry Burris put it in perspective.
“Look at it this way?we are in the middle of an election season where every candidate is making claims and counterclaims,” Burris said.
“How do you, the voter, know which of these claims are true and which are not? I’m not talking about things about the federal budget or who knew what about Iraq and when they knew it,” he went on. “I’m talking about local politics?how are various officials connected with major construction projects? Who owns that piece of land being proposed for a new school? Are some people who are arrested getting preferential treatment?
Open government statutes also make certain public records are legally available to any one.
According to the Tennessee Code Annotated 10-7-503:
“All state, county, and municipal records . . . shall at all times, during business hours, be open for personal inspection by any citizen of Tennessee, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless otherwise provided by state law.”
Documents are presumably open for inspection if they are not specifically exempt. Exemptions can be hard to hunt down; there are about 200. Some exemptions include medical records, some military documents, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s investigative reports. Otherwise, no matter who you are, you have a right to view public records.
A statewide audit conducted by the TCOG found that out of 356 record requests, 117 were denied. The requests they made were not extraordinary. Audit participants requested the minutes of local planning commissions, crime reports and logs, and school system expulsion records for weapons, drugs and violence. All the materials they requested are, legally, supposed to be available upon request.
It’s election season in Murfreesboro. On April 15 voters will elect three members to sit on the City Council, whose decisions have a direct impact on our lives, whether it’s by increasing taxes and fees, outlawing couches on porches or making decisions that could mean longer commutes through an already congested city. Four seats on the Murfreesboro School Board are also up for grabs. And that’s only the beginning for elections this year.
For more information on open government and to learn how to make sure our local officials are letting the sun shine in, visit tcog.info.
Is local government transparent? Send your comments and stories on public access to information to valerie@boropulse.com or leave a comment at boropulse.com
