Emerging details are sketchy and interest/concern seems to have subsided.
Unclear who was invited to attend the meeting of lawmakers called by Gov. Beshear to discuss the coronavirus response, but the meeting was conducted in the Supreme Court Chambers (which cannot accommodate a very large group).
Sen. Wil Schroder chose to remain outside the meeting room, stating that the meeting should have been open.
If a quorum of the members of either the House or Senate was not present, the open meetings law is not implicated (even though public business was discussed). Perhaps a violation of the spirit of the law but not the letter of the law.
Remember:
A quorum of the members of a public agency + a discussion of public business OR action taken = open public meeting.
Another curve ball. The Governor seems to have called the meeting, not the presiding officer of the Senate or of the House or a majority of Senate or House members. This might make a difference in the legal analysis (and distinguished it from the 2018 Bluegrass Institute case).
Feathers appear to have been unruffled, but the question lingers.
BREAKING NEWS: Closed legislative session to discuss coronavirus called by Gov. Beshear. Press and public excluded.
Sounds a lot like the 2018 case involving a closed session of the full House, (excluding Rep. Jim Wayne who refused to attend) to discuss controversial pension report.
Bluegrass Institute appealed the closed session under the open meetings law. Quorum of members of public agency present+ discussion of public business = public meeting that must be open per KRS 61.810(1).
Franklin Circuit affirmed AG Beshear in declaring the closed session a violation of the open meetings law. House of Representatives appealed to the Court of Appeals but settled the case when attorneys for the Bluegrass Institute withdrew their motion for attorneys' fees. Guess the legal principle was less important than the money—until today.
See, https://ag.ky.gov/Priorities/Government-Transparency/orom/2017/17OMD228…
Franklin Circuit opinion linked below:
