Latest news with #OpenMeetingsLaw
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana Attorney General sues Baker council members for violating Open Meetings Law
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against the City of Baker and several of its council members, accusing them of violating the Open Meetings Law. According to the lawsuit, a citizen filed a complaint against the Baker City Council to Murrill, stating they denied the public's right to offer comments during a March 3, 2025, special meeting. The council members were also accused of having an improper agenda and wrongfully conducting executive sessions, which violates the state's Open Meetings Law. A special meeting was held to discuss City Attorney Ken Fabre's qualifications for the position. The lawsuit states that a vague item was listed for the meeting's agenda: 'Executive Session to discuss personnel matters.' It did not describe the issues being addressed specifically. The council performed an investigation and made findings in an executive session. Final action was taken without proper procedure, violating laws that prohibit final decisions in closed sessions. Murrill is requesting that all actions taken during the March 3 meeting be voided, an injunction be issued requiring the City of Baker and the council to comply with Louisiana law, and for the city to cover the Attorney General's attorney fees. The defendants listed in the lawsuit include the City of Baker, Mayor Darnell Waites, and council members Desiree Collins, Rochelle Dunn, Cedric Murphy, Charles Vincent, and Robert Young. Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
St. Martinville Board nullifies actions after open meetings suit
ST. MARTINVILLE, La. () — Members of the St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board held a meeting at the St. Martinville City Hall where they discussed their next steps concerning former St. Martinville Police Deputy Chief, Cody Laperouse's appeal of his termination. News 10 spoke with Michael Formeller, the board president, who says the board made some errors in previous hearings that they are trying to correct. 'We made some procedural errors in an appeals hearing a while back and what we're doing is negating that meeting, that way we'll be on good grounds again,' said Formeller. This comes after Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against the board stating members may have violated the open meetings law between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3. Attorney General speaks on lawsuit against St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Murrill says she filed her lawsuit against the St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board because there was a ratification vote the board made that she believes was ineffective in solving the problem. A complaint was filed with Murrill's office, resulting in her sending a letter to the service board that Open Meetings Law may have been violated. Murrill says she filed the lawsuit because her office received a violation that had not been rectified after the letter was sent. 'In this particular case we believed that we needed to file a lawsuit in order to get the proper remedy, the votes that they took in violation of the law are not valid votes,' said Murrill. In response to the lawsuit, the majority of the board voted to invalidate their actions on Jan. 28 and Feb. 3 for the alleged open meetings violations, in accordance with the Attorney General's lawsuit. Formeller, tells News 10 they are following the Attorney General's rules, in hopes of getting the lawsuit removed. 'She said on a couple of occasions what we need to do is invalidate the actions we took improperly and fix it, and then the suit that she filed against us will go away, so that's what we're doing,' said Formeller. Murrill says the Louisiana Attorney General's Office will work with the board to make sure they are clear on what the rules are for open meetings moving forward. 'The do-over for an open meetings violation is to go back and follow the rules and open meetings, follow the rules for executive session if that's what you need to do,' said Murrill. 'It doesn't mean that they cannot take these actions, it does man that they have to do them in the right way for them to be valid.' The St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board tells News 10 Laperouse's appeal will be discussed at a future meeting. St. Martinville Board nullifies actions after open meetings suit Abbeville man arrested for allegedly shooting wife and mother-in-law in domestic dispute Ski great Brignone's first aim is to walk before thinking of next year's Olympics Abrego Garcia's wife on domestic violence protective order: 'No one is perfect' Video shows 'Call on Jesus' bus explode in ball of flames along Louisiana road Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Attorney General speaks on lawsuit against St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board
ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. () — spoke on the lawsuit filed against the St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board. This follows a complaint filed with Murrill's office about the board possibly violating . Attorney General Murrill says the reason behind filing her lawsuit against the St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board, was because there was a ratification vote the board made that she believes was ineffective in solving the problem. A complaint was filed with Murrill's office, resulting in her sending a letter to the service board that Open Meetings Law may have been violated. Murrill says she filed the lawsuit because her office received a violation that had not been rectified after the letter was sent. 'In this particular case, we believed that we needed to follow a lawsuit to get the proper remedy,' she said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now She says in situations like this her office tries to work with the board to make sure they know what the rules are, however, if their actions aren't remedied a lawsuit is filed and whatever action is taken during the meeting is invalid. 'The votes that they took in violation of the law are not valid,' she said. Murrill says although the lawsuit is filed it does not mean the board cannot go back and do it the proper way. 'The do-over for an Open Meetings Violation is to go back and follow the rules and open meetings, follow the rules for executive session if that's what you need to do. But, you know, it doesn't mean that they cannot take these actions,' she said. 'It does mean that they have to do them in the right way for them to be valid.' Attorney General speaks on lawsuit against St. Martinville Fire and Police Civil Service Board Driver arrested in connection to Livingston Parish hit-and-run injuring pedestrian Vehicle fire on I-10 westbound causes traffic jam Iberia Parish addresses trash dumping, seeks offender penalties CHRISTUS Healthcare provides tips for managing spring allergies Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is Signal and why are politicians using it?
DENVER (KDVR) — Fallout over use of the Trump Administration's use of the signal app to detail attack plans continued Wednesday. Two Colorado congressional members have joined a group of lawmakers calling for the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to step down from his post. National officials aren't the only ones who have found themselves in hot water using the app for planning. 'Reckless', 'total incompetence': Colorado legislators react to Signal chat of war plans From the Denver Mayor's Office to the state capitol, Signal is a popular way to communicate among people working in politics. This isn't the first time people have gotten in trouble using it. Signal is an app that has been around for a little over 10 years. It uses encryption text and video messaging so that only people who send and receive messages can view the data being sent. 'It has a focus on privacy and security and basically everything that you send in Signal is encrypted between you and the person you are sending it to, meaning that a third party- even the owners of the app or the providers of the application can't read your messages,' said Nathan Evans, faculty director of Cybersecurity at the University of Denver. Attorney and President of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition Steven Zansberg was shocked to learn that administration officials shared attack plans with a journalist over the app but it was not his first time seeing lawmakers get in trouble using it. Back in 2023, Zansberg represented two freshman state representatives as they sued House leadership, saying in-part that member's use of Signal to discuss votes before they happened violated the state's Open Meetings Law. A settlement was reached and a consent decree that prohibited state lawmakers from having their messages auto-delete in the app was established but its no longer in effect. Bill streamlining food truck permits passes Colorado House committee 'The General Assembly exempted itself from the Open Meetings Law. And specifically allowed for serial meetings and all kinds of meetings in violation of the open meeting law as to any other state public body,' Zansberg said. 'The General Assembly is no longer under that consent decree and is no longer required to disable automatic deletion through Signal and it's my understanding that they are using signal in our statehouse as they were prior to that action being filed.' Now, the Denver Mayor's Office could also be in some trouble after using the app to discuss the city's immigration outlook. They told FOX31 in a statement: 'Staff occasionally use Signal as an easy alternative to regular text messaging. Local government has a responsibility to communicate effectively and be aware of everything going on in the city on a daily basis. In a large organization where individuals use different operating systems (iPhone, Android) and receive hundreds of texts and emails a day, Signal allows people to efficiently receive real time updates and share information. It is not used to make policy decisions or issue directives that impact city business. Just like any other text messages or emails, the communications are subject to CORA.' Jordan Fuja, Press Secretary for Mayor Mike Johnston The Mayor's Office insists its use of the app does not violate any of the city's retention policies or the Colorado Open Record Act. Zansberg said that may not be the case. 'The Mayor's Office was already on notice that there might be legal claims filed against the city. They had received notification from Stephen Miller's legal firm about that. They had a duty under their own records law and under the Law of Exploitation of Evidence as its called to maintain all records that were pertinent to that litigation. So, the intentional destruction of records whether it's by shredding or automatic deletion in. the face if a known litigation threat is a violation of the law,' said Zansberg. With the spotlight on public officials having delicate conversations on the app, is it still safe to use for people in the political arena? Evans believes Signal is the most secure option among the app's other competitors. Colorado elections official: Executive order amounts to voter suppression, poll tax 'Signal is an open-source program which means that you can actually look at the source code that runs on your device so you can tell whether it's actually secure or not. There have been some issues with WhatsApp in particular with their privacy policies,' Evans said. 'I think it's generally well regarded that Signal is secure. That doesn't mean people should be using it if it's against the policy of their department or organization, right? Especially with local, state, national governments. You really should be using the tools that you are allowed to use for that purpose.' On Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Diana DeGette and Congressman Jason Crow both said the Defense Secretary should have known better than to use the app for those details. 'Common sense and years of practice should say: If you are talking about confidential U.S., secured information, it should be done in a secured location: what we call a SCIF. Not on Signal or any other app,' Congresswoman Diana DeGette told Nexstar Capitol Bureau reporters. 'It is a location that is impenetrable by foreign adversaries trying to get the information. We have SCIFs here in Congress. When we are discussing sensitive issues, we leave our cellphones outside the room, they lock them up, we go in, we have the conversation nd then we don't disclose them to anybody.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WPSD sues City of Woodland Park for alleged state law violation
(TELLER COUNTY, Colo.) — Woodland Park School District (WPSD) has filed a lawsuit against the City of Woodland Park because the city council allegedly violated a state law. On March 10, the City Council conducted a public meeting at around 10:30 a.m. Mayor Kellie Case announced that it would be holding an executive session, and mayor pro-term Catherine Nakai allegedly announced it would be moving to a closed session. The lawsuit states that Nakai moved to convene to a closed session under Subsection C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(b), which allows the board to meet privately with an attorney for purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions. After meeting behind closed doors, the City Council returned 35 minutes later at 11:08 a.m. and voted to repeal a voter-approved sales tax directly in support of the District. The lawsuit alleges that, due to holding the meeting behind closed doors, the City Council violated WPSD's rights under Colorado's Open Meetings Law. The state law says that 'any meeting of a body of the general assembly at which the adoption of any proposed policy, position, resolution, rule, regulation, or formal action occurs or at which a majority or quorum of a body of the general assembly is in attendance or expected to be in attendance can only be held after full and timely notice to the public.' The lawsuit states that City Council improperly cited subsections to authorize the executive session and also failed to describe the matter it intended to discuss in the session. 'The City Council's violation of COML prevented the District from knowing the particularmatters the City Council discussed in the executive session in as much detail as was possiblewithout compromising the purpose for which an executive session is authorized under C.R.S.§ 24-6-402(4)(e)(I),' the lawsuit states. When asked, Mayor Kelli Case said she was not at liberty to comment. While the City said it did 'not have a comment on this matter at this time.' FOX21 News reached out to the Woodland Park School District for a comment but has not yet received a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
