County Board Found To Violate Open Meetings Act

JERSEYVILLE - After months of waiting and a change of Illinois Attorney General, the Public Access Bureau of the Office of Attorney General has found that:

"... the Personnel Committee of the Jersey County Board (Board) held a meeting on August 20, 2018, at a location that was not convenient and open to the public, and failed to create a verbatim recording of its closed session meeting held that same day."

The complaint was filed after Jersey County Board Chairman Don Little ejected a media representative before the start of a personnel committee meeting and did not follow all of the rules laid out by the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA). At the meeting that was reviewed, Little ejected a media representative and held an "open session" meeting in an interior office that was not listed on the official agenda nor easily seen or found to be hosting the meeting. The board was also found to not have recorded the meeting as required by the OMA.

The determination letter explores at length the facts of the complaint and the response from Jersey County Board Chair Don Little. 

"Chairman Little did not directly respond to the allegation in the Request for Review that the office in which the meeting was held was an interior office and that the design of the building made it difficult to see the interior office or observe a meeting being held there. Finally, Chairman Little acknowledged that the Committee did not make a verbatim recording of the closed session meeting."

"Based on Chairman Little's response, it appears that not only Mr. Weaver, but also the Committee members and union representatives, understood the location of the meeting to be the auditorium. 

Chairman Little asserted that the agenda erroneously listed the location of the meeting and it should have stated that the meeting was to be held in the Board office. However, upon realizing the error on the agenda, Chairman Little nevertheless convened the meeting in the Board office, instead of the location listed on the agenda. Notably, he did so even though he, the other committee members, and Mr. Weaver (who had already indicated his interest in attending the meeting) were present at the place listed on the agenda, at the date and time at which the meeting was scheduled to begin. Chairman Little did not argue that it was necessary to relocate the meeting from the location listed on the agenda to the Board office, and did not state that he posted any signs re -directing interested members of the public to the new location. Moreover, he did not contest Mr. Weaver's allegation that the Board office is an interior office, that a meeting being held in that office would not be visible from the entrance to the building, and that the Board routinely held smaller meetings in the section of the auditorium known as the Board room. Accordingly, by holding its August 20, 2018, meeting in a location different from that listed on
the agenda and in a location that Mr. Weaver was unable to find, the Committee violated sections 2( a) and 2. 01 of OMA by holding a meeting at a place other than the place specified on the agenda and at a location that was not convenient and open to the public."

The Public Access Bureau also found that no recording was made of the meeting as is required by statute.

"All public bodies are required to " keep written minutes of all their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video recording." 5 ILCS I20/ 2. 06( a) ( West 2016)). Although this requirement is unambiguous, the Committee admitted that it did not create a verbatim recording of the August 20, 2018, closed session meeting. Accordingly, the Committee also violated section 2.06(a) of OMA."

The complete response of the Assistant Attorney General that investigated the case can be seen below.

County Board Found To Violate Open Meetings Act
County Board Found To Violate Open Meetings Act
County Board Found To Violate Open Meetings Act
County Board Found To Violate Open Meetings Act
County Board Found To Violate Open Meetings Act