Tag: open records

After more than three years and spending over $238,000, the Sumner County Board of Education loses its appeal in the Jakes vs. Sumner County Board of Education (SCBOE) dispute over open records, and blames the state’s Office of Open Records Counsel (OORC) for bad advice. In March 2014, Joelton citizen activist Ken Jakes requested the Sumner County School Board policy on open records of the school system’s community relations supervisor, Jeremy Johnson, by email and phone via a voice mail message. Jakes’ request stated, “If the records policy is online, you can simply provide the link.” Johnson denied Jakes’ request in an email response, which stated, “In keeping with our practice regarding open records requests, you’ll need either to submit your request in person or via the postal service.” Indeed, the School Board’s policy at the time required a “forced election,” as Sumner County Judge Dee Gay termed it in the original chancery court ruling November 13, 2015, when one of the choices – that a records request be in writing – is “expressly prohibited” under the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA). The OORC website’s “frequently asked questions” states that “Given that a requester is not required to make a…