Open Meetings - As enacted, permits a court to award the reasonable court costs and attorney's fees to a petitioner successfully proving that a governing body knowingly and willfully violated the public meetings laws in this state. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 4, Part 6 and Title 8, Chapter 44, Part 1.

This Tennessee law allows courts to order government bodies to pay legal fees and court costs if they knowingly and intentionally break public meeting rules. The change applies to any group required to hold open meetings, such as city councils or school boards, that deliberately ignore these requirements. When a citizen sues to enforce these rules and wins, the judge can decide to make the offending body cover the petitioner's reasonable expenses, including lawyer fees. The law also lets judges look at advice given by state open records staff when deciding if a violation was intentional.