Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Herrick, Assistant Attorney General
Open Meetings Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Bardstown City Council violated the Open Meetings Act by failing to maintain accurate minutes of its special meeting on March 6, 2012. For the reasons that follow, we find the Council not in violation of the Act.
By letter dated September 4, 2012, Kevin Brumley submitted a written complaint to Bardstown Mayor William S. Sheckles, in which he alleged that the approved minutes of the City Council's special meeting on March 6, 2012, inaccurately reflected that Councilman Joe Buckman was in attendance and that he contributed to a 6-0 vote to adjourn the meeting. 1 Mr. Brumley proposed, among other remedies, that an investigation be conducted, the responsible person be prosecuted, and the meeting be nullified.
On September 7, 2012, City Attorney Thomas A. Donan sent a response acknowledging that "the minutes were in error as to the presence of Councilman Joe Buckman and my presence at the Special Meeting," but arguing that they still "set forth an accurate record of the votes and actions at the meeting" and therefore were in compliance with KRS 61.835. Mr. Brumley's appeal was received by this office on September 12, 2012.
On September 19, 2012, City Attorney Donan informed this office that the March 6 minutes had been corrected by the City Council at its meeting on September 11, 2012, and now showed the absence of Mr. Buckman and the accurate vote count of 5-0 in favor of adjournment. Minutes may lawfully be amended at a subsequent meeting so as to conform to the facts of what occurred, thus "setting forth an accurate record of votes and actions" as required by KRS 61.835. ( See 06-OMD-103 and decision cited therein.) Because the minutes have been corrected, we need not decide whether the error that previously existed was a violation of KRS 61.835. It is therefore our conclusion that the Bardstown City Council is not in violation of the Open Meetings Act with regard to the minutes of the March 6, 2012, meeting.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.846(4)(a). The Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceedings.
Distributed to:
Kevin BrumleyHon. William S. ShecklesThomas A. Donan, Esq.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 Mr. Brumley attempted to argue this issue in a previous appeal, 12-OMD-080, but had failed to raise it in his complaint.