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Butler County commissioners adopt policy to require board authorization before staff sign nondisclosure agreements
Summary
The Board adopted a resolution asking employees or agents acting for the Board to obtain Board authorization before signing nondisclosure agreements, following discussion about past unsigned staff NDAs, transparency and legal limits on NDAs with respect to public-records law.
Commissioners voted to adopt a resolution asking employees or agents negotiating on behalf of the Board to obtain Board authorization before signing nondisclosure agreements. The motion was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.
The administrator presented a draft resolution and said it would require employees in appointing authority positions to receive approval from the Board and review by the prosecutor’s office before signing NDAs. Commissioners debated whether the resolution should require explicit approval rather than mere notification; one commissioner said staff should get permission, not only notify the Board. The administrator said the draft’s resolved language provides for authorization and approval from the Board and that the prosecutor’s office would advise on form and legality.
During discussion, a commissioner said he has declined to sign NDAs and that staff-level NDAs can create transparency problems; another commissioner reported that a Water & Sewer director had signed an NDA without the Board’s knowledge and said the Board needs to know the subject matter if staff are agreeing to confidentiality. The administrator and another commissioner emphasized that NDAs do not circumvent public-records laws and that any confidentiality claim would still be evaluated through the prosecutor’s office.
The transcript records the resolution ID being read aloud with conflicting numbers (the administrator voiced “24336,” while another voice said “2423336”); the official resolution identifier was not definitively recorded in the transcript and is not specified here. The administrator said the Board could consider the matter again and scheduled any action for a future meeting if needed.
The Board’s vote was recorded by voice as in the meeting record; the resolution passed. The resolution’s text and the prosecutor’s guidance will determine how staff signatory authority is implemented going forward.
