Rutherford County steering committee backs changes to public-comment sign-in and announcements

The Rutherford County steering committee on Monday approved sending a revised public-comment policy to the full county commission that separates private sign-in information from the public record and requires callers to provide their district when they register.

The committee's chair introduced a redlined policy drafted with the county attorney's office that keeps sign-in details (name, subject and residential address) on an administrative log rather than requiring speakers to read their street addresses aloud on camera. "We still have a log of that for administrative and record keeping purposes," the county attorney's office staff member Nick said, explaining the change aims to protect speakers' safety while preserving a record of who addresses the governing body.

Kathy Watts, a member of the public, told the committee she supported the change because attendees and callers sometimes fear safety and privacy risks from publishing exact street addresses. "There's a lot of reasons why people might not want to give their address," she said. "Privacy is one of them."

Commissioners amended the draft to require callers to provide their district number when they register, and for the chair to announce a speaker's district along with their name. Committee members said district information allows commissioners to know whether a speaker is a constituent without publishing a home address. Rachel, the executive secretary, will collect the sign-in information and can confirm district numbers where callers do not know them.

The policy also preserves standard meeting safeguards: the presiding officer may end a speaker's time or remove a disruptive person, posters larger than 18 by 24 inches remain prohibited for safety and visibility, and public comment does not create a right to a response from commissioners or staff. The committee approved the amendment by roll call and passed the motion to forward the policy to the county commission for final consideration.

The full commission will next consider the draft; committee members said the county attorney and staff can continue adjusting procedural language if the commission requests changes.