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Utah Senate leadership reports settlement after admitting limited open-meetings violation
Summary
Senate leaders told colleagues they had agreed to a stipulation resolving a year‑old lawsuit alleging the chamber held an improper closed meeting; plaintiffs dropped court supervision demands and claims were dismissed with prejudice, the Senate’s counsel said.
Senate leaders told colleagues on Feb. 19 that a year‑old lawsuit alleging the Senate held an improper closed meeting has been resolved through a stipulation in which the Senate acknowledged a violation and the plaintiffs agreed to drop certain remedies.
The chamber’s presiding officer paused its consent calendar to brief members on the matter after leadership said the Senate had “admitted a violation” of the state open‑and‑public‑meetings law tied to a past closed meeting. Leadership said the violation was not intentional and that proposed settlement terms had been circulated to senators on the floor.
Gaye, identified in the record as legal counsel, summarized the stipulation and what it accomplishes: the plaintiffs have dropped their request for injunctive relief that would have permitted court supervision of the Senate’s notice, agenda and minutes; the plaintiffs also have agreed to drop claims with prejudice and to forego an appeal, she said. The stipulation includes a reduced fees arrangement, counsel added, and she answered senators’ questions about whether individual senators were named. Gaye said the plaintiffs never named individual senators in the suit and that the stipulation’s dismissal does not resolve separate questions about the individual immunity of senators.
Senate leaders and members thanked the attorneys who worked on the matter and stressed a renewed commitment to complying with the open meetings law. The president directed that the stipulation be placed on senators’ desks, and leadership described the settlement as a way to avoid further litigation costs while affirming the chamber’s intent to adhere more closely to public‑meeting rules.
The matter was presented as a settled issue on the floor and no further court action or appeal was expected from the plaintiffs, according to the counsel’s summary. Senators raised and received clarifications about individual exposure and how the stipulation affects future processes.
Next steps recorded on the floor included distributing the stipulation to members and continuing the day’s legislative business.
