Hamilton County commissioners in the running to replace outgoing County Mayor Claude Ramsey can have their interviews with the rest of the commission done in private, the county attorney says.
That reverses what Hamilton County attorney Rheubin Taylor told commissioners last week.
On Thursday, Taylor told commissioners they would be violating the state’s Sunshine Laws if they held private interviews with fellow commissioners interested in replacing Ramsey, who will join the administration of Gov.-elect Bill Haslam in January.
But late Monday, Taylor reversed that decision after asking Elisha Hodge with the state’s Office of Open Records Counsel for her opinion on the subject. Taylor said Hodge cited old case law, which she said gave commissioners the right to interview each other outside of a public meeting.
“There is a court of appeals case that she shared with me today,” Taylor said. “They can go ahead, based that decision.”
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.