TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Jul 7, 2022

The Knoxville News Sentinel is suing the city for public records that would reveal the process used by Mayor Indya Kincannon to screen police chief candidates. New Orleans Police Deputy Superintendent Paul Noel was hired for the job after a private national search firm was hired by the city to help Kincannon with the hiring process. According to Knox News, the city now maintains that the use of the outside company shields it from state open records law. The paper says it rejects that position. "The city is intentionally and knowingly trying to hide public business from voters and taxpayers, and we're willing to fight to obtain records that legally are public documents," said Joel Christopher, Knox News executive editor. Christopher went on to say that the paper has no issues with the hiring of Noel, but the “secretive process that insults the concept of conducting the people's business with transparency."