On February 19, attorney Matt Roane filed a lawsuit against the Fremont County School District RE-3, also known as the Cotopaxi School District, alleging that the Board of Education had violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law. Roane has made a career of holding local government boards accountable when they violate the Colorado Open Meetings Law.
Colorado Open Meeting Laws are strange in that they place enforcement of the law not on some police or state prosecution power, but instead rely on private citizens to file lawsuits against governments. Roane has been referred to as a “private attorney general.”
Last year, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition featured Roane in a story about how he holds local governments accountable; he stated that “the General Assembly has not seen fit to create any public body with the authority to enforce the open meetings law. There are no administrative actions. There are no criminal penalties. Instead, the state thrusts enforcement of (the law) solely upon the shoulders of private citizens who are willing to engage in civil litigation.”
The lawsuit alleges that during an executive session on June 17, 2024, the board discussed a specific parcel of real estate the school district was contemplating purchasing. However, the board did not state appropriately on the agenda that they were going into the executive session to discuss a real estate purchase. According to the lawsuit, “In the Minutes, the Board described the general matter it discussed in the Executive Session as ‘pursuant to CRS 24-6-402(4)(b) for the purpose of conferencing with the Board’s attorney to receive specific legal advice regarding its rights and obligations.’”
While it is allowed for a board to go into an executive session to talk about the purchase of real estate, the topic on the agenda and published in the minutes has to be clear about what is being discussed. Judges have repeatedly ruled that “To lawfully reflect the topic of an executive session discussion in the minutes, a board must describe the particular matter it discussed in the executive session in as much detail as possible without compromising the purpose for which the executive session was authorized.” Often, boards copy and past the executive session language onto an agenda without giving the matter a second thought.
However, such mistakes mean that the public is often left out of the discussion about important matters, and in this case, real estate purchases.
The School District had until March 19 to file a response, but no court filings were filed at that time.
– Jordan Hedberg