The Tennessee Open Meetings Act grants the public the right to attend and observe public meetings. It also requires governing bodies to provide a period for public comment at every meeting where there is an actionable item on the agenda.

Open meetings explanations and definitions. (a) All meetings of any governing body are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times, except as provided by the Constitution of Tennessee.

The Open Meetings Act, commonly referred to as the "Sunshine Law," is found in T.C.A. § 8-44-101 et seq. The requirements of this law are as follows: All meetings of any governing body are declared to be public meetings and must be open to the public at all times. T.C.A. § 8-44-102;

Jun 23, 2022 · The Tennessee Open Meetings Act (hereinafter "TOMA") is commonly referred to as the “Open Meetings Law” or the “Sunshine Law,” and it is one of the most comprehensive open meetings laws in the country. The statute declares that all public policy and public business decisions must be made in meetings that are open to the public.

Tennessee Open Meetings Act (cont.) An attempt to balance the need of the public to know what government is doing with the need of members of governing bodies to be able to deliberate and reach best decisions.

Open meetings -- "Governing body" defined -- "Meeting" defined. All meetings of any governing body are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times, except as provided by the Constitution of Tennessee.

In enacting the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, the General Assembly declared it to be "the public policy of the state that the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret." T.C.A. § 8-44-101.

The Tennessee Public Records Act, compiled in Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5 of the Tennessee Code, and the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, compiled in Title 8, Chapter 44, Part 1 of the Tennessee Code, are available through the following link to a LEXIS Law Publishing Website containing the Tennessee Code.

Apr 25, 2023 · The 113th General Assembly amended the Tennessee Open Meetings Act with two separate public chapters that will impact your municipality. Those public chapters are Public Chapter . 213, Acts of 2023 and Public Chapter 300, Acts of 2023. The summary and comments on both are found below. Public Chapter 213, Acts of 2023 summary:

(a) All meetings of any governing body are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times, except as provided by the Constitution of Tennessee.