School District Faces Lawsuit for Alleged Open Meetings Violation

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's Attorney General will file suit against the Jordan School District after a Salt Lake City newspaper alleged the school board had violated state open meetings laws.

The civil suit is expected to be filed in 3rd District Court next week.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the matter "is not something we should have to litigate" but district officials have twice refused to let investigators review meetings minutes or tapes to determine if a violation occurred.

The lawsuit is based on a complaint from the Deseret Morning News that the board closed a September 2006 meeting to discuss whether to fund school resource officers through local police at a higher cost or search for other options.

The issue had been previously discussed in open meetings on two earlier occasions. Closed discussions of the issue were later held in October and November.

In a statement Friday, the district said the board's action was consistent with state law. A review by district attorneys found that under Utah's Open Meetings Act "...closed-meeting records are 'protected' and the Attorney General's Office is not designated as a recipient of protected records under that act."

The district said meetings were closed because the board was discussing school security matters.

Under state law, the attorney general's office is required to investigate any allegations of open meetings violations. All that's needed is a little cooperation from public bodies, Shurtleff said.

"Unfortunately, Jordan District and the state will now expend precious resources going to court when those resources could be spent on educating and protecting our children," he said.

District officials also expressed disappointment with Shurtleff's decision and said the reporter who challenged the closure "was not privy to the confidential discussions and therefore has no knowledge to judge the propriety of such conversations."

Deseret Morning News attorney Jeffrey Hunt said the board was discussing school policy and spending -- not the specifics of security -- and that the meeting should have been open.