Annotations for Decision

Former members of a public board had constitutional standing to raise violations of the Open Meetings Act with respect to a county fiscal court’s action in removing them and the subsequent action by the board approving a lease termination agreement because they clearly alleged distinct and palpable injuries caused by the actions of the fiscal court and the board for which they would be entitled to a remedy under the Act; any action taken by the fiscal court in violation of the Act was voidable. Lincoln Trail Grain Growers Ass'n v. Meade Cty. Fiscal Court, 632 S.W.3d 766, 2021 Ky. App. LEXIS 89 (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). Full Details

General Assembly declared that all citizens have a direct interest in public agencies’ compliance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act, and the particularized injury arises from the agency’s violation of the Act itself, not specifically from the action taken; the rights accorded under the Act are not merely procedural but also grant the public at large a direct interest in its enforcement, and in other words, the violation of the Act itself constitutes the direct and personal injury. Lincoln Trail Grain Growers Ass'n v. Meade Cty. Fiscal Court, 632 S.W.3d 766, 2021 Ky. App. LEXIS 89 (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). Full Details

Trial court erred by dismissing a complaint for lack of standing because the Open Meetings Act permitted an association to recover attorney fees and costs, and the availability of the remedy met the redressability requirement for constitutional standing; because actions taken in violation of the Act were not void ab initio, third parties not involved in the allegedly unlawful conduct could be entitled to rely on the validity of the agreement executed by the county fiscal court and public board. Lincoln Trail Grain Growers Ass'n v. Meade Cty. Fiscal Court, 632 S.W.3d 766, 2021 Ky. App. LEXIS 89 (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). Full Details