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On Aug. 28, 2008, Dodge City resident William C. Felts asked Ford County Attorney John Sauer to investigate a possible violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
Felts alleged that the city's Building Board of Appeals had conducted meetings without notifying him, even though he had requested notification. City staffers could not find Felts' written request for notification but confirmed that he had filed the request, and that he had been notified of meetings where the board was expected to act.
Sauer's investigation found that individual board members had met with city staffers four times in July to discuss issues related to city codes, but a majority of the board's members weren't involved in those discussions.
Based on that finding, Sauer concluded that those discussions did not constitute a meeting under the open meetings law. And because that was the case, he concluded that the board was not legally required to notify Felts of the discussions.
"If the individual discussions had been held to 'get around' the requirements of KOMA, KOMA would have been violated," Sauer said in a Dec. 31 letter to Felts. "But, I found no such intention."
Sauer sent copies of the letter to City Manager Ken Strobel; the city's legal advisor, Bradley Ralph; and the Globe.
The phone number listed for Felts in the AT & T phone book is no longer in service.
What does the law say?
The Felts case is the third in a series of recent complaints in which someone alleged that a unit of local government had violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act and asked Sauer's office to investigate. Two of the complaints — one against the Building Board of Appeals, and one against the Ford County Commission — alleged that the governing body had failed to give proper notice of an upcoming meeting to people who had requested notification.
In the third case, USD 443 Board of Education President Dan Reichenborn reported that the board had violated the open meetings act by remaining in closed session for eight minutes longer than originally announced.
So how does the law define a meeting, and what are the notification requirements?
State law says a meeting occurs when a majority of the members of a governmental board or agency gather to discuss that group's business, whether in person or over the phone. The title of the gathering — work session, study session, etc. — is irrelevant if the other requirements are met.
For example, if two out of the three Ford County commissioners get together to discuss setting salaries for the Ford County Health Department's nurses, they are conducting a meeting.
The law also applies to so-called "serial meetings," in which the majority of the members of a governing body contact each other via a series of telephone calls or other means to discuss an issue before the body. The calls themselves would not constitute a meeting unless they collectively involve a majority of the body, share a common topic of discussion related to the group's business and are intended to reach an agreement on an issue that would require binding action in a regular meeting.
"Which is not unlawful, as long as you have noticed it up that you are going to be having these conversations and there's an opportunity for others to be present," said Sandra Jacquot, director of law and general counsel for the League of Kansas Municipalities. "Now obviously, that is a scenario that's probably not going to occur — the noticing up. But it is possible."
The open meetings law requires governing bodies to give notice of meetings discussing the group's business to anyone who asks. The notice may be written or oral, but alerting the local newspaper alone is not enough to fulfill the requirement.
If the governing body fails to provide notice of its meetings to people who have requested notification, the group has arguably violated the open meetings law.
Jacquot said that the League of Kansas Municipalities, the Kansas Association of School Boards and the Kansas Association of Counties all offer frequent training sessions on the Kansas Open Meetings Act to their members. She added that individual cities also provide their own training on open-meetings issues to elected officials.
"Most seem to understand that there's an open meetings act, and they have to be careful about how they communicate with other elected officials," she said.
Jacquot said her organization advises officials to acknowledge any violations of the open meetings act as soon as possible.
"When we get a call, we say, 'The best thing is honesty,'" she said. "The next meeting, you say, 'We believe we may have violated the open meetings act. And here's what we did, and here's how we're going to correct this in the future.' And just come clean. I think it's a good thing in terms of trust by the public."
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.
On Aug. 28, 2008, Dodge City resident William C. Felts asked Ford County Attorney John Sauer to investigate a possible violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
Felts alleged that the city's Building Board of Appeals had conducted meetings without notifying him, even though he had requested notification. City staffers could not find Felts' written request for notification but confirmed that he had filed the request, and that he had been notified of meetings where the board was expected to act.
Sauer's investigation found that individual board members had met with city staffers four times in July to discuss issues related to city codes, but a majority of the board's members weren't involved in those discussions.
Based on that finding, Sauer concluded that those discussions did not constitute a meeting under the open meetings law. And because that was the case, he concluded that the board was not legally required to notify Felts of the discussions.
"If the individual discussions had been held to 'get around' the requirements of KOMA, KOMA would have been violated," Sauer said in a Dec. 31 letter to Felts. "But, I found no such intention."
Sauer sent copies of the letter to City Manager Ken Strobel; the city's legal advisor, Bradley Ralph; and the Globe.
The phone number listed for Felts in the AT & T phone book is no longer in service.
What does the law say?
The Felts case is the third in a series of recent complaints in which someone alleged that a unit of local government had violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act and asked Sauer's office to investigate. Two of the complaints — one against the Building Board of Appeals, and one against the Ford County Commission — alleged that the governing body had failed to give proper notice of an upcoming meeting to people who had requested notification.
In the third case, USD 443 Board of Education President Dan Reichenborn reported that the board had violated the open meetings act by remaining in closed session for eight minutes longer than originally announced.
So how does the law define a meeting, and what are the notification requirements?
State law says a meeting occurs when a majority of the members of a governmental board or agency gather to discuss that group's business, whether in person or over the phone. The title of the gathering — work session, study session, etc. — is irrelevant if the other requirements are met.
For example, if two out of the three Ford County commissioners get together to discuss setting salaries for the Ford County Health Department's nurses, they are conducting a meeting.
The law also applies to so-called "serial meetings," in which the majority of the members of a governing body contact each other via a series of telephone calls or other means to discuss an issue before the body. The calls themselves would not constitute a meeting unless they collectively involve a majority of the body, share a common topic of discussion related to the group's business and are intended to reach an agreement on an issue that would require binding action in a regular meeting.
"Which is not unlawful, as long as you have noticed it up that you are going to be having these conversations and there's an opportunity for others to be present," said Sandra Jacquot, director of law and general counsel for the League of Kansas Municipalities. "Now obviously, that is a scenario that's probably not going to occur — the noticing up. But it is possible."
The open meetings law requires governing bodies to give notice of meetings discussing the group's business to anyone who asks. The notice may be written or oral, but alerting the local newspaper alone is not enough to fulfill the requirement.
If the governing body fails to provide notice of its meetings to people who have requested notification, the group has arguably violated the open meetings law.
Jacquot said that the League of Kansas Municipalities, the Kansas Association of School Boards and the Kansas Association of Counties all offer frequent training sessions on the Kansas Open Meetings Act to their members. She added that individual cities also provide their own training on open-meetings issues to elected officials.
"Most seem to understand that there's an open meetings act, and they have to be careful about how they communicate with other elected officials," she said.
Jacquot said her organization advises officials to acknowledge any violations of the open meetings act as soon as possible.
"When we get a call, we say, 'The best thing is honesty,'" she said. "The next meeting, you say, 'We believe we may have violated the open meetings act. And here's what we did, and here's how we're going to correct this in the future.' And just come clean. I think it's a good thing in terms of trust by the public."
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.
