Open Records/Sunshine Law

At the Loudon County Workshop, it was asked if anyone had attended the state sponsored “Office of Open Records/Sunshine Law” training that comes to Knoxville twice a year.  No one raised their hand!!  A copy of the law was passed out to all the Commissioners and the Mayor.

A few points about the law were explained:  First there must be adequate notice of meetings in enough specificity to allow the public to know what is going to be discussed or voted on.  A “Governing Body” is two or more members of a public body with authority to make decisions for or recommendations to a public body on policy or Administration.  It is important to know what is a “Meeting,” that is when a governing body (two or more members) convene together in order to make a decision or to deliberate toward a decision. Also, there must be “Meeting Minutes” of that meeting which contain:  Persons present, motions, proposal and resolutions offered and results of any vote.  The public must be given an opportunity to comment and we believe their comments should be recorded in the minutes, especially if their comments are provided in writing.

The only way to rectify violation of this law is for the public to file a law suit which will take a lot of time and money.  Also, we have tried to use the open records act to get information from Commissioners’ email and cell phones that are being used for County business.