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Deputy county attorney outlines narrow legal reasons and safeguards for closed sessions
Summary
Deputy County Attorney Cortland Erickson told the commission that state law allows closed meetings only in limited circumstances (personnel/health matters, pending litigation, some real-property negotiations) and stressed that ordinances or contracts cannot be finally approved in closed session; commissioners must vote publicly to enter a closed meeting and state the reason on the record.
Deputy County Attorney Cortland Erickson explained the limited legal grounds and required safeguards for closed meetings during the commission's Jan. 20 recap. "The legislature has determined that there are certain reasons for holding a closed session, but, yes, they are very limited," Erickson said.
Erickson listed commonly permitted reasons: discussion of the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual; discussion of pending or reasonably imminent litigation; and, in some cases, strategy sessions about the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property when public discussion could disclose value or impede the transaction. He emphasized statutory safeguards: "an ordinance or a contract may not be approved in a closed meeting," and the commissioners must vote in public to go into a closed meeting and state the reason on the public record. Erickson also said that, in almost all cases, a recording of the closed meeting must be made and retained.
Why it matters: these rules balance the public's right to observe government with a limited need for private deliberation in narrowly specified circumstances. The transcript does not cite a specific statute by number; Erickson cited state law generally when describing the exceptions and safeguards.
Commissioner Sharon Bolos reiterated the procedure, stressing that a public body must take a public motion and vote to begin a closed meeting and then return to open session when the closed discussion is finished.
