Boone County commissioners require commenters to provide name and address on sign-in pad after complaints

Boone County commissioners voted March 9 to require people who speak during the public-comment portion of meetings to write their name and address on a sign-in pad, a procedural change the board said will ensure address information is captured in the minutes even when commenters decline to speak the address aloud.

The change grew out of constituent requests and a staff recommendation discussed under “Boone County rules of procedure.” Commissioner (speaker 4) urged that commenters either say their address or write it down, saying, “My motion is that you write your address down. If not, we'll look it up and it's going in the minutes anyway.” The board took the motion, which the chair put to a voice vote, and the measure passed.

The policy is meant to align the county’s approach with other advisory bodies that collect addresses for the record; county staff said the pad will be kept at the public-comment table so people can choose to write down their contact information rather than state it aloud. County counsel (speaker 10) and other commissioners discussed logistics and allowed that the recording method could be either spoken or written but recommended a written pad to streamline minutes preparation.

During public comment later in the meeting, resident Joan Stewart (speaker 3) thanked the commissioners for changing the rule and described a prior interaction that left her feeling intimidated, saying she felt confronted during an earlier meeting. “I have the right to do that,” Stewart said when explaining why she serves notices and files affidavits. Another official, Donnie Larsen (speaker 2), raised concerns about staff being intimidated when documents are dropped off and asked for guidance on whether offices are required by law to accept delivered documents.

The board framed the change as procedural: it does not require that addresses be read aloud at the microphone, only that the information be recorded for the minutes. The policy will apply under the existing public-comment agenda item and take effect immediately unless staff report a need for a technical adjustment at a future meeting.

Next steps: staff will provide details on how the sign-in pad will be managed and how entries will be transferred into the official minutes; the board did not entertain a formal appeal or reconsideration at the March 9 meeting.