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Council debates creating advisory committees as commissioners reshuffle membership
Summary
Council members and legal counsel discussed whether the council can form its own advisory compensation and insurance committees, the limits of another branch's appointment power, open meetings constraints and the option to adopt a resolution to codify council committees.
Boone County Council members and the county's legal counsel discussed the limits of the council's authority to appoint members to county committees and whether the council should create its own advisory committees for compensation, insurance and budget matters.
Legal counsel Jewel advised that when appointment power is granted to an executive branch or another body, the council cannot unilaterally override that appointment but may form its own advisory subcommittees by resolution. "When that power is given to one branch in the government, another one cannot," Jewel said. He recommended that any council-created advisory committee be established by written resolution so the procedure is clear for future councils.
The exchange followed concerns from council members who said several sitting council members were removed from the commission-appointed insurance and compensation committees without prior notice. Council members pressed whether the commissioners had notified them before appointments were changed and requested clarity on the process. Commissioner Lawson — asked to speak to the council — said he was not involved in those appointment discussions and that he did not receive advance notice of the reshuffle.
Jewel reviewed related legal constraints, including the state's open meetings requirement (referred to in the discussion as the "Open Door Law") and confidentiality limits. He cautioned that some insurance committee meetings could be properly conducted as closed sessions when they include individual-case information that could implicate privacy laws. "If this community takes into consideration individual cases ... that information can lead somebody to know who that is and then you run into HIPAA issues," Jewel said, explaining why some meetings may be closed.
Council members debated whether to let the newly appointed commission committees proceed or to form separate council advisory bodies. Several members recommended letting the new commission committees meet first and bring back results. Others proposed drafting a council resolution to formalize a budget committee and the compensation/insurance advisory roles. The council asked Joel to draft a resolution for the budget committee for review at the next meeting.
The discussion included repeated reminders about quorum rules and the open meetings law. Jewel advised that if council members sit on a commission-created committee in numbers that meet the council's quorum threshold, those gatherings could trigger public-meeting requirements and require advertisement.
No final vote was taken to form new council committees. The council directed staff to draft a resolution for the budget committee and to seek legal clarification and procedures for committee formation and participation.
