PRESS CONTACT:

ULYSSES JONES, JR. Addison Pate

STATE REPRESENTATIVE 26A Legislative Plaza
HOUSE DISTRICT 98 Nashville, TN 37243
SHELBY COUNTY (615) 741-6620
addison.pate@legislature.state.tn.us

Tennessee House of Representatives

For Immediate Release: October 24, 2007

Jones Sees Progress on Sunshine Laws

Representative looking forward to continued discussions on open meetings policy

Nashville, TN—On Tuesday, the Joint Subcommittee on Open Meetings voted to

recommend a change to Tennessee’s current Sunshine Laws. Offered by State Representative

Ulysses Jones, Jr. (D-Memphis), the change focuses specifically on the number of elected

officials required to constitute an open meeting, replacing the current “two member” standard

with a “quorum.”

“I believe this recommendation is a necessary change in order to allow elected officials

to adequately do their jobs,” said Jones. “Elected leaders cannot be effective legislators if they

are afraid of talking policy and issue with each other for fear of lawsuit.”

Current Tennessee Law (T.C.A. 8-44-102) states that when two or more “members, with

the authority to make decisions for recommendations to a public body” are together and

discussing policy, that the public has the right to be present. Under the approved

recommendation, two or more members would be replaced with a “quorum of members.”

“Thirty-seven other states currently use the quorum process to define meetings as public

and open,” said Jones. “What we have now is far more confusing, but with this change the

process of having open meetings can be much more black and white.”

Tuesday’s meeting ran for nearly five hours and was ended due to time. The

subcommittee will continue to hold meetings to review open meeting policy and make final

recommendations later next year.

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