Columbus County commissioners return from closed session; no action on litigation, approve general count

The Columbus County Board of Commissioners returned to open session after a closed session in which commissioners discussed pending litigation and possible future litigation; the board reported it took no action on those legal matters. During the open session commissioners approved two routine motions, including a motion to approve the "general count."

The first motion recorded coming out of closed session was moved by Commissioner Bullock and seconded by Scott; the motion was put to a vote and approved, although the precise motion text was not specified on the record. The board then heard a motion, stated on the record as, "I move the general count be approved," moved by Byrd and followed with a response from Watts; the chair called the motion passed. The meeting minutes show the body then recessed for about 15 minutes.

The closed session discussion was limited to pending and possible future litigation; the meeting record indicates no formal settlements, filings, or other legal actions were taken by the commissioners during that closed session. The approvals taken in open session were recorded as routine votes; the transcript does not supply a roll-call tally of individual yes/no votes for either motion.

No additional details about the subject matter of the litigation, the text of the first motion taken out of closed session, or follow-up steps for the legal matters were provided on the record. The meeting moved to a roughly 15-minute recess after those items.