Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Ryan M. Halloran, Assistant Attorney General
Open Meetings Decision
This is an appeal by Ms. Dawn Johnson under the Open Meetings Act. The questions presented are whether the Kenton County Planning Commission violated the Act when the doors to the building where a commission meeting was in session were locked by building personnel for security reasons; and whether the Commission responded to Ms. Johnson's letter of complaint about the doors as required by the law? For the reasons that follow we decide that the Commission violated the law.
The meeting was noticed to the public for May 1, 2003 at 6:10 p.m. Because the item that Ms. Johnson was interested in was near the end of the agenda, she did not arrive until 8:00 p.m. to attend the meeting. After she was unable to enter the front of the building because the doors were locked, she went around to the back where the doors were also locked. She was able to gain entrance when someone heard her knocking and sent a staff member of the Commission to let her in. Ms. Johnson complained to the presiding officer of the Commission by letter dated May 28, 2003, and requested that the Planning Commission declare the May 1, 2003 meeting and any resultant recommendations to be "null and void. " The Commission did not reply to her letter as required by the Open Meetings Law, specifically KRS 61.846(1). That statute requires "[t]he public agency to determine within three days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after receipt of the complaint whether to remedy the alleged violation pursuant to the complaint and [to] notify in writing the person making the complaint, within the three day period, of its decision."
On June 26, 2003, well after the time for the Commission to reply had expired, Ms. Johnson filed her appeal with this office. On June 1, 2003, the Commission responded through its attorney, apologized to Ms. Johnson for not having responded to her complaint letter, and assured Ms. Johnson and this office that "[s]teps have been taken to assure that all future open meetings requests are forwarded for proper response within the three day period." The Commission disagreed that a six-hour meeting should be declared null and void because the doors were locked when Ms. Johnson arrived. The Commission states that the doors were open shortly before 8:00 p.m., which indicates they were locked for only a short period. The Commission also points out that Ms. Johnson was able to make her presentation to the Commission when the agenda item in which she was interested was called at approximately 11:00 p.m. It appears that Ms. Johnson, although delayed admittance to the meeting and certainly inconvenienced, was admitted to the meeting in a fairly short time, and that afterward the doors remained unlocked so that other members of the public would have had access.
The law requires that "public meetings be open to the public at all times." KRS 61.810(1). We interpret this provision to require that the public have access to the place where the meeting is being held, not only at the scheduled time for the meeting to begin but during the meeting so that persons who wish to attend only portions of the meeting may do so. Although it is clear the Commission had no intention of blocking access to the meeting and remedied the situation immediately when it was brought to its attention, the doors were locked for a short time.
Accordingly, we decide that the Commission violated KRS 61.846(1) by failing to notify Ms. Johnson within three days of its decision regarding her complaint, and violated KRS 61.810(1) in that access to the meeting was temporarily blocked, albeit unintentionally, when the doors to the building were locked while the meeting was in session. Jurisdiction over Ms. Johnson's request to have the meeting declared "null and void" resides exclusively with the Kenton Circuit Court and we are without authority to decide that issue. KRS 61.848.
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 proceeding.
Dawn Johnson2422 Harris AvenueCrescent Springs, KY 41017
Timothy B. Theissen, ChairmanKenton Co. Planning Commission2332 Royal DriveFt. Mitchell, KY 41017-2088
David Schnieder, Sr.Ziegler & Schneider541 Buttermilk Pike P.O. Box 175710Covington, KY 41017-5710