Kentucky School Advocate
October 2023

The Kentucky Court of Appeals, in a unanimous opinion, reversed an earlier court ruling that had voided actions taken by the Campbell County Board of Education during meetings that were determined to be in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA).

Campbell Circuit Judge Julie R. Ward had ordered the board to pay attorney fees saying that, because COVID masking requirements at the August and September 2021 meetings were in violation of OMA, the business at those meetings was invalid.

Campbell County Schools appealed the ruling. KSBA Staff Attorney John Powell filed an amicus brief in support of one of the board’s arguments, stating the circuit judge exceeded her authority when she voided board’s votes, including a vote on tax rates.

The appeals court, in its Aug. 25 opinion, agreed:

“Both the board and the KSBA argue that KRS 61.848(5) does not authorize a court to void actions taken in public meetings which violate KRS 61.840, the statute the board was found to have violated. We agree this is a correct reading of the statute.”

The ruling also determined that the board was not subject to attorney fees because the board operated in good faith and because the OMA violation was not “willful.”

“This clarifies that votes taken at a meeting where the Open Meetings Act was violated can only be voided if tied to efforts to do things in secret,” Powell said. “The Campbell County board didn’t try to do anything in secret, so votes taken at those meetings couldn’t be voided.”