by Jon Styf
One Tennessee lawmaker wants to give taxpayers more transparency when it comes to public meeting agendas from governmental bodies.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, has proposed a bill for the upcoming session that will require governing bodies to post meeting agendas 48 hours before a meeting along with supplemental meeting documents.
Currently, Tennessee’s Open Record counsel says that there is no time constraint required for notice of meetings but “Tennessee courts have determined that adequate public notice is sufficient notice under the circumstances that would fairly inform the public of the meeting.”
Senate Bill 27 does not currently have a sponsor in the Tennessee House.
The bill does allow for boards to act on items that “could not have been reasonably foreseen prior to the posting.” But that allowance is limited.
“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 by the governing body,” the bill states.
The bill also would require public entities to provide, at no charge, agendas and supplemental meeting documents that 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 bill would continue to allow items to remain confidential if they are allowed to be confidential under state or federal law.
Boards would also be required to have a “reasonable number” of agendas and supplemental documents available at each meeting.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Styf is a reporter for The Center Square.
