For weeks, state officials sat on and kept secret a judge's ruling that government records on the handling of the deadly Sevier County, Tenn., wildfire could be released to the public.
The order by Juvenile and General Sessions Court Judge Jeff Rader, filed June 5, came in response to the state attorney general's request for clarification on what records the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency could release about the fire that killed 14 people.
Despite repeated inquiries, the state kept that decision quiet until the USA Today Network-Tennessee obtained a copy of the order through a public records request to the judge and the court clerk.
Read more at our news partner's website, knoxnews.com.