Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Raising questions of transparency and use of taxpayer dollars, the City of Knoxville is under fire for using a third party to vet police chief candidates and to avoid open records laws.

Compiled by independent research firm The Beacon Center, the annual “Pork Report,” claims one of the city’s lawyers admitted that the city hired the outside firm at a cost of $43,000 to avoid being subject to open records requests, essentially keeping all information about Knoxville Police Department Chief Paul Noel and his fellow candidates, under wraps during the hiring process.

Usually, government entities like the City of Knoxville are subject to open records laws which allow citizens to request information such as details on prospective police chief hires; however, outside, private firms are not included in those laws.

Beacon says the city is also paying another $67,000 in legal fees to fight a lawsuit over the matter filed by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Beacon’s yearly “Pork Report” aims to highlight how local governments across Tennessee use tax dollars. You can view the entire report here.