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Supervisor raises concern after sheriff's legal fees were paid without open-meeting vote
Summary
A supervisor said the county paid Sheriff Richmond's interest charges outside an open meeting despite a prior vote to schedule payment for after July 1; the board discussed transparency and agreed to avoid similar procedures in future meetings.
A Jefferson County supervisor criticized the county's procedure after learning the county had paid interest on Sheriff Richmond's legal-fees claim without a separate open-meeting vote.
"Without no hearing, no agenda, nothing to vote on, we did take it out of the issue, so I've already paid him," Speaker 3 told the board, saying the earlier board motion had directed payment after July 1. Speaker 3 said the unexpected earlier payment created "the appearance of impropriety" and urged adherence to open-meeting procedures.
Speaker 1 responded that he had proposed moving the payment to July 1 to allow budget clarity and that the claim appeared on the March 31 bills and was reviewed; he characterized the earlier payment as an effort to avoid additional daily interest charges. "The request to move it to July 1 was made by me," Speaker 1 said, and added the review of the claim was part of regular bills processing.
Supervisors agreed the incident should not recur and discussed ensuring items that affect public perception are placed on a public agenda. No formal reversal of the payment was proposed; the board instead emphasized internal improvements to agenda practice and transparency going forward.
