Sevier County, Tennessee
From Sunshine Review
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Its population was 71,170 at the 2000 United States Census. It is included in the Sevierville, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. The county seat is at Sevierville, the largest city in the county.
[edit] Website evaluation
- Main article: Evaluation of Tennessee county websites
[edit] The good
- Tax structure posted.[2]
- County commissioners listed with contact information.[3] Meeting schedule[4] and agendas available.[5]
- Zoning information provided.[6]
- Administrative officials listed with contact information under respective departments.
[edit] The bad
- Budget is not published.
- County audits and contracts are not online.
- Does not disclose if belongs to taxpayer-funded lobbying associations.
- Information on how to make a public records request is not provided on the site.
[edit] Charging for public records
In 2008, Kim Pierce, a candidate for Sevier County sheriff, took issue with how much money the county charges when citizens want to look at its records.[7]
Ann Butterworth, the head of the public records ombudsman office for Tennessee said, "The Tennessee Open Records Act provides for access by citizens of Tennessee to inspect public records during business hours, at no charge. I am unaware of any legal basis for charging a 'retrieval fee.' Even if copies must be made of a record in order to remove or redact confidential information, if you do no wish to take or keep the copy of the redacted record, you are not obligated to compensate the custodian for the production of that copy."
County mayor Larry Waters is asking county attorney Jerry McCarter to weigh in before he considers a refund to Pierce for the times she was charged for looking at records. He said, "We had people coming in asking to see 120 pages, not just five or something."
A decision was handed down on July 3, 2008 that the county will no longer charge an access fee for public documents.[8] Despite that piece of advice, Sevier County officials are continuing to charge substantial fees as they await further direction. [9] Kim Peirce has officially requested a refund of her overpayments. [10]
[edit] Stimulus plan money
The county is geared to receive $7.3 million dollars from the stimulus bill. Of the total $4.8 million is potentially destined for Sevier County schools and would be used to buy textbooks and keep personnel, said Karen King, the district’s director of finance. The other $2.5 million would be directed to construction project in the county.[11]
[edit] External links
- Servier Corruption
- Sevier County NACo Profile
- Retrieval fees in Tennessee from State Sunshine and Open Records
- Official Sevier County Website
[edit] References
- ↑ Sevier County NACo Profile
- ↑ Tax Structure
- ↑ Commissioners
- ↑ Calendar
- ↑ Agendas
- ↑ Zoning
- ↑ State official says county's fee to look up records is wrong, July 7, 2008
- ↑ Sevier county no longer requires fee's for review of public records The Seymour Herald, July 6, 2008
- ↑ County wants another opinion before dropping records-retrieval fee Mountain Press, July 9, 2008
- ↑ Sevier Co. officials accused of violating open records law 6 WATE, July 10, 2008
- ↑ Knox News, Tennessee schools could reap $700M, January 28, 2009
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