§ 4-29-123 — Infringement of an entity member's freedom of speech prohibited

(a) No board, commission, council, committee, authority, task force, or other similar multi-member governmental entity created by statute and subject to review under this part shall promulgate rules, issue statements concerning only the internal management of state government, or issue intra-agency memoranda as described in § 4-5-102(12) , that infringe on an entity member's freedom of speech in violation of the Constitution of Tennessee, Article I, § 19 or the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. As used in this subsection (a), "freedom of speech" includes, but is not limited to, a governmental entity member's freedom to express an opinion concerning any matter relating to that governmental entity, excluding matters deemed to be confidential under § 10-7-504 . (b) Upon a determination by a joint evaluation committee created under § 4-29-103 that reasonable cause exists to believe a governmental entity has infringed on a member's freedom of speech as described in subsection (a), that entity shall be reviewed by that evaluation committee during the next legislative session following the determination. The evaluation committee may make recommendations for legislation to the general assembly concerning the entity's sunset status and rulemaking authority, and the termination of state funding to the entity.

Legislative History

Acts 2018 , ch. 754, § 1.