Lawsuit alleges Lawrence County Commissioners violated Open Door Law with executive sessions

BEDFORD — The Lawrence County Commissioners have been accused of breaking Indiana's Open Door Law, according to a complaint filed with the Indiana Public Access Counselor's office.

The formal complaint alleges the commissioners illegally held executive sessions in the past without properly communicating the purpose of the private meetings.

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The complaint was filed by Bedford resident Bill Raines, who alleges that the county commissioners have held multiple executive sessions over the last several years without giving a proper notice to the public beforehand.

Executive sessions are meetings that are not open to the public and the conversations that take place during these meetings remain confidential.

State law mandates that any governmental body that decides to convene for an executive session must inform the public of the time, place and purpose of the meetings. A 48-hour notice before an executive session occurs is also required. These requirements must be followed even though, executive sessions are not open to any members of the public.

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An executive sessions is defined in Ind. Code 5-14-1.5-2 as a "meeting from which the public is excluded, except that the governing body may admit those persons necessary to carry out its purpose. The Open Door Law sets out the specific matters about which a public agency can hold an executive session. These include instances like government strategy discussions with respect to collective bargaining and litigation, interviews of prospective employees, job performance evaluations, and the purchase or lease of property by the public agency."

The complaint has been sent to the Indiana Public Access Counselor. The commissioners have until Dec. 2 to respond to the allegation.

Attempts to reach Lawrence County Board of Commissioners President Rodney Fish for comment on this story were unsuccessful.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Open Door Law complaint filed against Lawrence commissioners