Public Records Access Forms Available

With the passage of 2008 Public Chapter 1179, the Office of Open Records Counsel was created to answer questions and provide information to records custodians and citizens regarding public records requests. The Office of Open Records Counsel has prepared three forms for records custodians that are now available on its website at http://www.comptroller.state.tn.us/openrecords/forms.htm

The first form is an Inspection/Duplication of Records Request form to be used by both the records requestor and records custodian when someone requests a record. The second form is a Records Request Denial Letter to be used by a records custodian when denying a records request. This form lists reasons why a request may be denied and provides a place for communicating why the information cannot be provided. Finally, the third form is a Records Production Letter to be used by a records custodian when a record cannot be made available within seven (7) business days. Detailed instructions on the use of these forms can also be found at the above-referenced website address. Should you have any questions regarding the use of these forms you may contact the Office of Open Records Counsel at (615) 401-7891, toll free 1-(866) 831-3750 or by e-mail at open.records@state.tn.us.

County Profiles and Census Data

Ever wanted to find basic information about the demographics and statistics for your county? One source you may find useful is on the Internet site for the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. www.state.tn.us/tacir

Consisting of public officials from state and local government and private citizen members, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) "serves as a forum for the discussion and resolution of intergovernmental problems." The commission and its staff research and examine a multitude of public policy issues related to government in Tennessee.

At their Internet home page, you may want to browse the catalog of publications available or look at the profile for your county or other counties. To view the profiles, click on the tab for "County Profiles," then either click on a county on the map or enter the county name in the appropriate blank and then choose the format for viewing the data.

The profile includes:

• Basic population data
• Income and poverty information
• Health and healthcare statistics
• Employment and wage data
• County finance and budget information
• Results of the TACIR public infrastructure needs survey
• Statistical information about educational attainment, and
• Statistics on the county public school system.

This information may be helpful to you or useful to share with community groups and organizations to help them understand and learn more about your community.

Re-Design of Main Association Website

You are likely linking to this page through the main association website: www.tncountycommissioners.org. If so, you have probably noticed the re-design there. If you have bookmarked this page and are coming here directly, I invite you to go to the main site to see some new features we've added.

There is updated information about our 2008 regional meetings and an on line form you can use to let us know which regional meeting you plan to attend. There is also a new "Legal Issues" section where we will be posting updates and information about new laws, court cases or legal opinions affecting county government from time to time.

Check out the new features and watch for more additions in the coming weeks.

On-Line Resources for County Commissioners

There are more and more resources available on the Internet to help local government officials perform their job better and more efficiently. For county officials in Tennessee, one of the best sources of information and resources is the University of Tennessee's County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).

If you are not familiar with it, I want to recommend to you the CTAS website. It is located at http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu. If you go to the main webpage, you will see a column on the left that gives you access to the county officials directory, CTAS reference materials, information about training programs, upcoming events affecting counties, financial information about counties, environmental materials, legislative information and more. The site even has its own demo to help you understand how to use the resources available through the website. To find the demo, click on the tab for CTAS Reference Materials and scroll down to the bottom to find the section related to Interactive Learning. Not only will you find the website demo there which will walk you through all the features of the website, you will also find an on-line guide to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.

The reference materials portion of the site includes a library of the many useful publications created by CTAS and a section of sample forms, including sample resolutions for use by county legislative bodies. (You can find the sample resolutions here: http://www.ctas.utk.edu/public/resolutions.nsf/View+By+Chapters?openview ) Within the CTAS library of publications you can find the comprehensive Tennessee County Government Handbook, the annual Tennessee County Tax Statistics publication and, under the tab for legislative information, the annual Index of Acts for county governments in which the CTAS legal staff summarizes all the new legislation that passed the TN General Assembly affecting county governments. Also on the page for Legislative Information, you will find a collection of the compiled Private Acts for Tennessee Counties. CTAS is essentially the only source for this comprehensive collection of private acts arranged and compiled by county.

In a future post, I'll provide additional information about training and educational programs offered through CTAS, but for now, I encourage you to spend some time checking out the many resources that CTAS provides to help you serve your consituents better.

Jay West Named as New COAT Director

Earlier this summer, the County Officials Association of Tennessee selected Jay West as the new executive director to succeed Marie Murphy. Marie left COAT to join the Department of Commerce and Insurance as Assistant Commissioner for Special Projects this past spring. Jay assumed his responsibilities this month. I look forward to working with him on issues common to our organizations. Jay has been a registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill for over 25 years and brings a wealth of experience to COAT. In addition, he is a former Councilman at Large and Vice Mayor of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County and even served as a member of the board of directors of this association (TCCA) during his tenure as an elected Davidson County official.

The County Officials Association of Tennessee represents the court clerks, county clerks, trustees and registers of deeds of Tennessee's 95 counties.

Regional Meetings Planned for September

TCCA is continuing its annual tradition of holding a series of regional meetings across this state. These important grass roots events are a time when hundreds of county commissioners and mayors meet together to share a meal, discuss the issues of importance to county government and look ahead to the upcoming legislative session. State Senators and Representatives are also invited to these events and I encourage you to speak to them personally about the meeting in your area.

The tentative dates for these sessions are listed below. All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. local time and include a dinner. You will be receiving more information about the meetings in the near future.

You will note that the meeting which traditionally had been held in downtown Nashville is moving out from town. It will be held this year on the campus of the Volunteer State Community College in Sumner County. Attendance at the downtown Nashville meeting had been declining in recent years due to difficulties with parking, traffic and other logistics. It is my hope that this alternative location will make it easier for county commissioners in the Northern Middle-Tennessee region to attend and participate. Our other middle-Tennessee meeting will remain at Henry Horton State Park in Marshall County which has traditionally had a strong turn out.

September 2 Holiday Inn Mountain View - Cleveland, TN
September 4 Henry Horton State Park
September 9 Volunteer State Community College - Gallatin, TN
September 10 Knoxville City/County Building - Knoxville, TN
September 11 Jonesborough Visitor's Center - Jonesborough, TN
September 18 UT Agriculture Extension Center - Jackson, TN
September 23 Leslie Towne Center - Cookeville, TN
September 25 Paris Landing State Park

While I am sure there will be conflicts, attempts were made to avoid scheduling conflicts with regularly scheduled county commission meetings, development district meetings and state-wide conferences that are also going on during September. If there are events and meetings you would like us to try to work around in scheduling these meetings in the future, please let me know.

I hope to see you there.

Upcoming Conference and Board Meeting

The Legislative Session has come to a close. As a part of the Tennessee County Services Association Post Legislative Conference, our affiliate association will be holding board and membership meetings next week. You should have received registration information about the conference numerous times through the TCSA Capitol Update and the Tennessee County News newspaper. The conference is being held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee at the Glenstone Lodge, June 3-4, 2008. Our TCCA board meeting will be held from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, in the "Azalea" meeting room at the hotel. For more information or to request any type of special assistance you need for attending the meeting, call our Nashville office at (615) 532-3767.

Hope to see you there.