Judge won’t dismiss newspaper’s lawsuit

Chancellor Daryl Fansler rejected Knox County’s request to dismiss the suit by Knoxville News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy, and set a trial date for Aug. 28.

Knox County deputy law director Mary Ann Stackhouse had argued a majority of the 19-member commission would have had to meet secretly to violate the act, commonly known as the state ‘Sunshine Law.’

But Fansler ruled a quorum isn’t necessary to violate the spirit of the law.

Newspaper attorney Rick Hollow contended as few as two commissioners meeting privately could be a violation of the act.

The subject of the suit was a Jan. 31 commission meeting in which eight commission seats and four county offices were filled through appointments after the state Supreme Court upheld a 1994 referendum on term limits.

Most commissioners admitted meeting in small groups outside the commission room to discuss the appointments, which included naming relatives of commissioners to three of the eight seats.

Fansler rejected a News Sentinel motion requiring the county to pay attorney’s fees, but had yet to rule on the newspaper’s request for a summary judgment in its favor.