A Tennessee judge ruled that members of the Chattanooga City Council repeatedly violated the state’s public meetings law during the process of creating new voting districts for future city council elections.
The ruling is a major victory for government transparency and for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which sued the city council with free legal support from attorneys at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
In a 50-page order, Hamilton County Chancellor Pamela Fleenor held that a committee made up of four city council members held a series of private meetings, calls and emails in 2021 and 2022 to make decisions about redistricting in violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.
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