(C) Tennessee Lookout
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Stockard on the Stump: Registry mired in public records quandary • Tennessee Lookout [1]
['Sam Stockard', 'More From Author', 'July', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width']
Date: 2025-07-18
Tennessee’s campaign finance regulator is stuck between the state’s open records law and confidentiality surrounding the state board that oversees attorney ethics, leaving the public wondering: What the heck?
State law allows decisions by the Board of Professional Responsibility to remain confidential. Yet the actions of the Registry of Election Finance and its executive director are subject to the Public Records Act, creating a conflict the Registry board wants resolved by the state attorney general.
It all started last summer when Nashville attorney Cynthia Sherwood sent a private investigator to the home of Registry chief Bill Young to question him about legal matters dealing with former House staffer Cade Cothren. A federal jury found Cothren guilty in May on 19 counts of fraud and conspiracy in a kickback deal with ex-House Speaker Glen Casada. Cothren also has a pending case before the Registry over operation of a political action committee called the Faith, Family, Freedom Fund.
Young refused to speak to the investigator, who apparently tried to talk to several House members, as well. But Registry board members were irate about the incident and reported Sherwood to the Board of Professional Responsibility for a potential ethics violation.
Young is represented by a staff attorney and the Attorney General’s Office in the case, and he and Registry board members said it’s clearly unethical for an attorney to try to talk to a person known to have a lawyer in a pending case.
The Board of Professional Responsibility finally issued a decision on the matter, but the letter it sent to Young in his professional capacity is being considered confidential – at least for now – by the Registry until the AG’s Office “clarifies the application of the law,” according to the general counsel for the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance.
Even Young’s letter requesting a legal opinion from Skrmetti is being withheld from public records requests.
The state’s public records custodian also turned down a request by the Lookout, saying Young’s letter to the AG’s Office is exempt because of attorney-client privilege.
Registry members aren’t exactly enthused with that view, and they voted last week to seek a legal opinion from AG Jonathan Skrmetti to determine whether confidentiality rules surrounding the Board of Professional Responsibility supersede requirements for the Registry to adhere to the Public Records Act.
Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, acknowledged the AG’s Office represents the Registry but said the documents should fall under the Public Records Act and the AG should reach that conclusion quickly.
The exemption for the Board of Professional Responsibility exists only so complaints don’t hurt someone’s reputation before a decision is reached, Fisher said.
“This involves a governing body making a complaint, and I don’t see how that can not be a public record,” she said. “I think they’d have to bend over backwards to twist the law.”
It should be noted the Board of Professional Responsibility didn’t put any official decision about Sherwood on its website, although it could have taken other disciplinary steps.
Registry member Hank Fincher confirmed that Young’s letter to the AG contains confidential information from the Board of Professional Responsibility. At the same time, the attorney board sent a confidential letter to a public agency, Fincher said, pitting “contradictory policies” against each other.
“I think we’re in a quandary,” Fincher said. “We’re a government agency bound by the open records act, and I can state that I don’t have a problem with the letter being public record.”
Yet the Board of Professional Responsibility takes attorney discipline and confidentiality surrounding those cases seriously because of state law, Fincher said, thus the request for the AG’s direction.
“We have to serve two masters here,” he added.
Registry board Chairman Tom Lawless contends the letters should be public records. After all, the Registry’s actions took place in public meetings.
Obtaining public documents from state agencies is a hit-or-miss proposal, often depending on the wording of requests.
It will be interesting to see whether Skrmetti believes the public’s right to know is more – or less – important than confidentiality allowed by the Supreme Court for the Board of Professional Responsibility, which isn’t exactly the most transparent group to come down the pike.
Ongoing SAGA
Tennessee’s Republican leaders are bending over backwards to work with the Trump administration on the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Not only are they hammering Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell over criticism of federal-state sweeps in the city, they’re spending handsomely for an immigration czar and grants to local law enforcement agencies to teach them how to act like federal agents.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers wearing masks have rounded up undocumented immigrants, and protesters in California also covered their faces in a chaotic atmosphere earlier this year.
Amid that backdrop, Democratic Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville is sponsoring the Stop American Gestapo Act (SAGA), which would make it illegal for law enforcement officers to wear a mask, face covering or personal disguise while interacting with the public in official duties.
The bill, which was filed June 30, would allow officers to wear masks to prevent the transmission of airborne diseases, protect against smoke or other particles during a fire or disaster, and to protect special weapons and tactics officers’ faces from harm.
But simply wearing a mask to go out and sweep the countryside would be a Class C misdemeanor.
Additionally, the bill would make it illegal for a law enforcement officer to deal with the public without clearly displaying the officer’s name or badge number on their uniform.
Violations could be reported to the local district attorney general or to the state attorney general and reporter’s civil rights enforcement division.
In Metro Nashville, that could mean pitting District Attorney Glenn Funk, who has thumbed his nose at some state laws, against Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti. Gee, inquiring minds want to know how that would turn out.
But alas, Jones isn’t winning many popularity contests with supermajority Republicans in the General Assembly, calling House Speaker Cameron Sexton “drunk with power” after getting booted from the body for leading an anti-gun rally on the House floor. He was returned to the seat by the Metro Council before winning re-election.
Passing this bill in a chamber determined to beat up on immigrants would be nothing short of miraculous.
Running a little short
Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles is reporting only $53,000 in fundraising over the last quarter, giving him about $109,000 to work with over the next few months.
Clearly, he has more time to build up a war chest in advance of the 2026 election. But this amount is puzzling, considering his attachment to President Donald Trump and popularity in the rural part of the 5th Congressional District outside of Nashville.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting Ogles and trying to flip the seat, which would be a monumental move considering the legislature redrew the 5th District lines to ensure Republicans could take over what was once a safe Democratic seat.
Ogles won a second term in spite of questions about his fundraising and whether he massaged the numbers to make his initial haul look bigger than it really was. Republican voters don’t seem to care, either, that his resume has more holes than a gopher den.
The FBI was looking into his finances until Trump called them off when Ogles filed a bill to allow the president to serve a third term. He’s also gained notoriety by going after Nashville Mayor O’Connell for his criticism of the south Nashville immigrant sweep.
With all of that happening, he might not be worried about campaign fundraising. And, similarly to Jones’ Gestapo bill, a win by Democrats will be miraculous, but a contest from a strong Republican could be hard for Ogles to overcome.
Cutting your losses
Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council levied fines totaling $250,000 against five offshore sportsbooks for taking wagers in the state without a license.
The council hit Costa Rica-based BetAnySports, Bookmaker and JazzSports; Panama-based BetOnline and Curacao-based Evergame each with $50,000 penalties, bringing its total fines to $600,000.
“The SWC is exploring all avenues with its network of law enforcement to eliminate these bad actors from Tennessee,” Executive Director Mary Beth Thomas said. “Consumers in Tennessee need to be aware that illegal operators will gladly take their money and personal information, and if a consumer does business with an illegal book, they give away their information to criminals.”
The council appears to be doing a good job of ferreting out illicit bookies. If only it could guarantee me a win. But then that wouldn’t be gambling, and it could be journalistically unethical. Do you think that would be exempt from the open records law? Hardly.
“I was gambling in Havana / I took a little risk / Send lawyers, guns and money, Dad, get me out of this.” *
* Warren Zevon, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/07/18/stockard-on-the-stump-registry-mired-in-public-records-quandary/
Published and (C) by Tennessee Lookout
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/tennesseelookout/
