TN State Senator Files Legislation To Increase Transparency Of Government Meetings (Update 1/5/23)
***Update 1/5/23 – Gardenhire’s bill (SB0027) has gained a House sponsor with Rep. Jerome Moon (R-Maryville-District 8); House Bill 0023 (HB0023).***
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga-District 10) has filed legislation that aims to increase public transparency of the meetings of governing bodies in the state of Tennessee.
Filed on December 20th, Senate Bill 0027 (SB0027) as introduced, requires governing bodies to make agendas of meetings and supplemental meeting documents available to the public at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
The draft legislation states that the agendas and supplemental meeting documents must be made available to the public in a readily accessible location and be provided at no cost.
Supplemental meeting documents may include but are not limited to proposed ordinances, proposed contracts, proposed resolutions, written staff recommendations, reports, and other materials given to governing body members in advance of the meeting.
The legislation states that if the documents are not available to the governing members 48 hours prior to a given meeting, they must be made available to the public immediately upon being received.
The bill addresses “open records” to some degree by stating that, “ a governing body shall promptly provide copies of its agenda and supplemental meeting documents, at no charge, to a citizen who requests copies, and the governing body shall have a reasonable number of copies available at the meeting.”
Predicting how governing bodies in Tennessee often function, the legislation makes it a point to say, “A governing body shall not circumvent the spirit or requirements of this section by withholding items from a published agenda or supplemental meeting documents for the purpose of avoiding public disclosure of business to be considered.”
However, the text of the bill does include a disclaimer of sorts in stating that the governing body may still take action on matters not listed on the agenda if the matter reasonable could not have been foreseen prior to the posting of the agenda, providing that the body follows its own bylaws or properly adopted rules and procedures and is compliance with other state laws.
Gardenhire’s bill does not yet have a sponsor in the Tennessee House upon publication of this article, but if it passes through the subcommittee, committee process, wins a majority vote in both chambers of the General Assembly, and is signed into law by Governor Lee, it will take effect immediately.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
