Tennessee’s Sunshine Law, the 37-year-old statute that prevents two or more members of a government body from getting together in private to deliberate toward any government-related decision, is in danger of being overturned.
Since its passage in 1974, The Sunshine Law has been nationally known as a model of government transparency.
According to state code, “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 statute defines a governing body as, “The members of any public body which consists of two (2) or more members, with the authority to make decisions for or recommendations to a public body on policy or administration.”
Nothing in the law prevents two members of a governing body from talking to one another, only meeting in private to deliberate and conduct public business is restricted.
If it can be proven in court that such meetings did take place, the decision in question can be voided by a judge or jury.
Williamson County Commissioner Bob Barnwell, the president of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association, is spearheading a movement intended to coerce the state legislature into weakening the law.
 Under the plan proposed by Barnwell, any number of members of a county commission, school board or city council could meet and discuss public business as long as they did not represent a quorum.
The public would only have to be notified if a quorum of the governing  body was present.
For example, seven of the 14 commissioners in DeKalb County could get together and discuss public issues without notifying the public, because a quorum consists of eight members.
DeKalb County Mayor Mike Foster told the Review that he sees no need for a change in the law, and that government business should be conducted openly.
“I think the Sunshine Law serves a valid purpose,” Foster said.
“It’s better when government business is conducted in a public forum.”
Barnwell is on a mission to persuade county commissions statewide to endorse his proposal, and to pass resolutions asking that their senators and representatives support the measure in January when the Tennessee General Assembly reconvenes.
Barnwell has complained that local elected officials are forced to operate under different rules than the ones that apply to the General Assembly.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” the Shelbyville Times-Gazette quoted Barnwell as saying.
Under rules of the state House and Senate, a quorum has to be present for a gathering to be considered a “meeting.”
It was assumed that the law covered the legislature for the first 26 years of its existence.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in 2001 that the law did not apply to the General Assembly because of two provisions of the state Constitution.
Article II, Section 22, states: “The doors of each house and of committees of the whole shall be kept open, unless when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret.”
It was ruled that the General Assembly has the right to exclude the public when discussing matters of state and national security.
Another provision in the state constitution says that one legislature cannot bind a following General Assembly with its decisions.
Article II, Section 12, states: “Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings ...”
The difference is that the legislature was created by the Constitution, while local governments are creations of the General Assembly.
The issue was last raised in 2007 when a committee of legislators, local officials, media and citizens groups did a study of the quorum standard.
The panel rejected the idea of changing the law after city and county mayors across the state objected to the idea of small groups of commissioners and city council members being able to get together in secret before meetings.
Even though some county commissions endorsed the 2007 proposal, most county mayors said that all discussions should be held out in the open as required by the Sunshine Law.
Barnwell brought the talk back to the table in early October when he persuaded his own county commission to endorse the proposal.
Concerned citizens and taxpayers are urged to take notice of any such proposals by their local governments and let their local councilmen and commissioners know how they feel about the matter.