TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Nov 16, 2022

According to a new report from the Knoxville News Sentinel, the city of Knoxville has admitted it tried to sidestep Tennessee’s open records law during its search for police chief by commissioning a firm to handle the hiring. The Sentinel sued the city in July to see records from the search. During an Oct. 7 hearing, court records show the city’s hired attorney, Chris McCarty, told Knox County Chancellor John Weaver the police chief search was conducted in such a way that there would be no records of certain things. McCarty said the city did this to “eliminate the possibility that those candidates would fear that their names would be disclosed to the public, therefore, questioning and threatening their current jobs, therefore not having them apply in the first place.”