Mitchell County officials go into closed session and approve hiring outside counsel to file petition

Mitchell County officials voted Friday, July 17, to enter a closed session under Iowa law to discuss a construction issue involving a console and then approved retaining outside counsel to draft and file a petition, county attorney Aaron Murphy said.

Aaron Murphy, the Mitchell County attorney, told the board that conversations with outside counsel and the nature of the matter met the criteria for a closed session under Iowa law because discussing strategy in public "would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation," and he recommended the board vote on whether to follow that advice.

The board then moved into a recorded closed session after a motion by the meeting chair was seconded and a roll call was taken. During roll call the clerk called Pam, Mark, Tom, Sydney and Jim; each responded "Aye," and the motion to enter closed session passed.

After returning to open session at 1:43 a.m., Murphy restated his recommendation that the board authorize retaining outside counsel. He asked the board to vote to retain counsel "to draft a petition for me to sign, me to file as soon as possible and have that served," and instructed that the motion be handled like any other: motion, second, discussion and recorded vote.

The board made the requested motion, seconded it and voted by roll call; the clerk recorded "Aye" responses and the motion passed. Meeting minutes show the board approved the hiring of outside counsel to prepare and file the petition as described by the county attorney.

The meeting’s formal business began with the Chair calling for approval of the agenda; that motion was moved, seconded and approved earlier in the session. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 1:47 a.m. Aaron Murphy said he would follow up on relevant contracts for the matter, though the transcript does not specify which contracts or other documents would be produced.

The transcript records the legal grounds cited by the county attorney during discussion as Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(c) and a reference to section 22.10, and it notes that any formal action must be taken in open session and recorded in the minutes.