Letting in the sunshine: What to know about open records and public meetings
Every Tennessee citizen has the right to request records from both local and state officials. Here's how.
Graphic/Ian-Alijah Bey
By William Newlin
Local officials have to be careful what they say to each other in private. Discussing the contents of their meetings over a cup of coffee, for example, could spell legal trouble. That’s because Tennessee has robust protections to keep public business public — they’re often called sunshine laws.
“Essentially just if you've got a meeting of a governmental body, it should be open to the public,” said Toni Chadwick, Tennessee’s Open Records Counsel.
The Tennessee Open Meetings Act applies to any discussion about law- or policy-making between two or more officials, including county commissioners, city councilors, school board representatives, and even members of the committees, boards, and commissions they create.
Their meetings must be accessible to residents, and government bodies have to publish what they discussed and how they voted. In short, state law bars officials from any backroom discussions, whether by phone, email, text, or over scotch and cigars.
The open meetings act and the related Tennessee Public Records Act aim to build transparency by keeping officials honest. They also “add some equity,” said Jenny Hill, Chattanooga City Councilwoman for District 2, preventing officials from excluding their colleagues from the decision-making process.
“As a citizen, I appreciate that our county commissioners are up there talking things out,” Hill said. “And then I can hear what's on their mind and help understand why they make the decisions that they do.”
‘Faith in government’
Because elected officials are accountable to the people who elected them, it’s on the public to make sure they’re following the law. The public records act is a powerful tool to keep them in check.
Public records are anything having to do with official government business. And every Tennessee citizen has the right to request records from both local and state lawmakers — emails, texts, and even microfilms included.
Tennesseans can use requests to uncover behind-the-scenes conversations or access unpublished documents and data.
Last year, the publisher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press sued Chattanooga City Council over an alleged open meetings violation, claiming council members met in secret to begin the city’s most recent redistricting process.
“Having open public records and really working with your citizens to give that information when they're requesting that from you creates that faith in government,” Chadwick said.
The open meetings law may build faith that local decisions play out publicly. But at the state level, the open records act can demystify a much more opaque governing body: the Tennessee General Assembly.
General Assembly sessions are exempt from open meetings requirements. The reason is “a little bit complex,” said Seth May, assistant general counsel in the state comptroller’s office, but the nearly 200-year-old Article 2, Section 22 of the Tennessee Constitution provides a carve-out for the state legislature:
“The doors of each House and of committees of the whole shall be kept open, unless when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret.”
Public records requests allow citizens to unlock those closed doors. May said requests should be specific. For example, if requesting emails about a certain topic, include keywords and the recipients rather than asking for all emails sent over a period of time. And remember local officials often have to supply records on top of their regular duties.
“This has kind of been my experience that when people play nice with each other, they can generally come to good accommodation,” May said.
How to request records
Go here to read a sample records request issued to the Tennessee General Assembly last year. See a request template here, and find the Tennessee state records request form here.
Depending on the records, the number requested, and their format, requests can come with a fee. All state departments in Tennessee have their own open records coordinator. The Tennessee Office of Open Records, part of the comptroller’s office, can help citizens find out who to ask for state and local records and help if documents are taking too long to arrive.
Chattanoogans, and anyone else in Tennessee, can request City of Chattanooga records through this link.
When does discussion happen?
For the most part, the policies, ordinances, and resolutions coming from local bodies are not controversial — contracts, appointments, and grants rarely cause a stir.
Among Chattanooga City Council members, economic development deals and ordinances that impact districts differently generate more spirited debate, Hill said.
Most discussion might not happen in voting sessions, either. Agenda sessions, committee meetings, and work sessions, which happen before voting, are good places to find where officials fall on various issues.
“By the time we get to our final voting portion of the meeting we tend to have had that conversation taken care of already,” Hill said.
So if it’s not clear why a 5-4 City Council vote wound up so close — check the minutes of the previous meetings. It’s probably in the record.
Of course, some bodies and some officials are more boisterous than others.
“If you watch school board meetings,” said Marco Perez, Hamilton County School Board District 6. “I think our school board members have no qualms saying what they feel, what they think, why they think it, in front of the public.”
When are local meetings?
Chattanooga City Council’s weekly meetings begin at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays with a review of the agenda and committee meetings. Voting begins after a recess. Find a link to the current week’s committee schedule on City Council’s homepage.
The Hamilton County Commission voting meetings start at 9:30 a.m. every other Wednesday followed by committee meetings. All other weeks, commissioners hold a recessed meeting to review upcoming resolutions and vote on leftover business.
School board work sessions begin at 4:30 p.m. usually on the third Thursday of each month. The voting meeting immediately follows. Committee meetings can happen throughout each month. See the school board’s meeting schedule here.