CCAP

Government Accountability for the Greater Chattanooga Area

Chattanooga Civic Accountability Project

Holding Chattanooga-Area Government to the Public Record

CCAP is a nonpartisan watchdog project covering the Greater Chattanooga Area. It works one way: file the public-records requests, publish only what the documents support, and hold every official to the same standard regardless of party.

Most decisions that shape a place are written down somewhere: what the government buys, who it surveils, which meetings happen in public. Getting to that record takes knowing which law applies, who to ask, and what to do when a request is slow-walked or denied. CCAP does that work and publishes what comes back, with the underlying document attached.

How We Work

  1. Request the records

    We ask agencies for the documents behind a decision: contracts, resolutions, meeting minutes, and correspondence, using Tennessee's Public Records Act.

  2. Read everything that comes back

    We check every claim against the documents themselves, and clearly label anything that comes from a news report or general background instead.

  3. Publish only what the records support

    No speculation. When two records disagree, we show both side by side and ask the agency for an answer in writing.

  4. Show our sources

    Every document behind our findings is listed in the Records Archive, with personal details redacted, so anyone can check our work.

Latest Updates

Sept. 30, 2026: The petition to remove surveillance technology from our communities passed 500 signatures. Read the petition →
Sept. 25, 2026: Added the Sept. 22 Chattanooga City Council minutes to the Records Archive. Browse the archive →
Sept. 24, 2026: Confirmed Tennessee's 90-day storage limit on plate-reader data against the official text of the law. See what the law says →

What We're Working On

Every CCAP campaign is built entirely from public records. Here's what's active now.

Active campaign · Hamilton County DeFlock Chattanooga Surveillance technology in Hamilton County, regardless of vendor. The first records: the county's $1.18 million, 122-camera license-plate reader purchase, made without competitive bids. Campaigns All Campaigns What CCAP is investigating, and how each campaign gets chosen.

Happening now: the Chattanooga City Council approved an Axon contract that includes 36 license-plate readers. They can't be deployed until the Council reviews them again. What the minutes show →

Where CCAP Is Headed

CCAP plans to take on open-meetings compliance, budget and contract transparency, and local ethics enforcement, but there's no timeline yet. When another issue is documented well enough to publish, it will show up here and on the campaigns page.

Explore CCAP