Lyon County Commissioners violated Open Meeting Law, passed resolutions without allowing public input
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Fri, 02/10/2023 - 10:20am
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford found the Lyon County Board of County Commissioners to have been in violation of Nevada’s Open Meeting Laws (OML) during three meetings in 2021.
The complaint was initially filed by Tony Stephenson on behalf of the Lyon County Democratic Central Committee, who alleged that violations had taken place.
Specifically, during the meetings of March 4, March 18 and May 20, 2021 it was alleged that the Board of Commissioners provided an agenda item regarding legislative issues that were not clear and complete, which did not allow the public to provide comment prior to the Board taking action.
According to the Attorney General’s Office in their Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the Board did violate OML statutes on those occasions.
The agenda stated:
For Possible Action: Discussion and direction to staff and Legislative Coalition Members regarding legislation or legislative issues proposed by legislators or by other entities permitted by the Nevada State Legislature to submit bill draft requests, or such legislative issues that may impact Lyon County as may be deemed appropriate by the Board of County Commissioners
The agenda item did not specify which legislation and/or issues the Board would be discussing, “resulting in the public having no way of knowing upon which legislation the Board would take action,” the findings of fact stated.
During the March 4 meeting, the Board authorized the Board Chair to sign a letter to be sent to the Governor’s Legislative Delegation opposing the Governor’s Innovation Zone, as well as opposing a bill relating to Tiny Homes.
During the March 18 meeting, the Board similarly voted to oppose Assembly Bill 286 in its entirety. AB 286 ultimately passed and was approved by the governor, which dealt with “Ghost Guns” and firearms without serial numbers.
Finally, during the May 20 meeting, the Board instructed the County Manager to draft letters to the legislature regarding provisions from AB 286 that were inserted into Senate Bill 452, which dealt with prohibiting the carrying of a firearm on a “covered premises in certain circumstances.”
According to the Conclusions by the Attorney General’s Office, an agenda for a meeting of a public body must include a clear and complete statement of the topics to be considered during the meeting. According to state law, an incomplete and poorly written agenda “deprives citizens of their right to take part in government, and interferes with the ‘press’ ability to report the actions of government.”
Further, agendas must provide a higher degree of specificity when the subject is “of special or significant interest to the public.”
The findings stated that, had the Board only discussed which legislation they had issue with as a legislative update, they would not have been in violation. However, the first time the public was made aware of the legislation was during the meeting itself.
“Moving forward, the OAG recommends that, to the extent that a public body plans to affirmatively take a position on specific legislation, the public body should list the bill or topic of legislation on its agenda so that the public is aware that possible action may take place,” the conclusion states.
The Lyon County Board of County Commissioners must place an item on its next meeting agenda acknowledging the investigation and determination that they violated OML.
It is not known if further action will be taken. By OML statutes, the county could be fined up to $500 per violation.
To read the full report, please click here.
