CFOIC Executive Director
A judge ordered the payment of $148,822 in attorney fees and court costs to a parent who won an open meetings case against the Woodland Park school board for its discussion of a charter school MOU under a vague “BOARD HOUSEKEEPING” agenda item.
Erin O’Connell’s lawsuit “sent a message to public bodies across Colorado,” wrote Teller County District Court Judge William Moller in a decision issued Friday. “Based on the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court, government entities can be held accountable for their actions by being forced to pay an opposing party’s fees and costs. Consequently, I find the results of the litigation far exceeded what defendants’ counsel argues because the litigation results have state-wide implications.”
Last September, the state Supreme Court affirmed a judicially created doctrine that lets public bodies “cure” violations of the Colorado Open Meetings Law (COML) at subsequent meetings that do not merely rubber-stamp earlier decisions. It also ruled that a plaintiff such as O’Connell is still entitled to recover costs and reasonable attorney fees if an open meetings violation is proven in court…