Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell has filed an Open Meetings Law litigation against the Caddo Parish Commission and the seven Democrat Commissioners: Stormy Gage-Watts, Greg Young, Victor Thomas, Roy Burrell, Ronald Cothran, Kenneth Epperson, and Steffon Jones. The lawsuit was filed yesterday (Mon.) in Caddo District Court.
The lawsuit states that Caddo Commissioner Chris Kracman lodged a complaint that the Caddo Commission violated the Open Meeting Law by adopting the resolution honoring U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. This resolution was not considered by the full Commission at a duly notice meeting.
The litigation also alleges that Gage-Watts, Epperson, and Thomas again convened outside of a publicly noticed meeting to adopt two additional resolutions--one honoring former Mayor John Hussey and the other commemorating the anniversary of The Strand Theatre. These actions were taken AFTER the Open Meetings Law complaint had been sent to the Commission.
The lawsuit alleges that these actions reflect a pattern and practice by the seven individual defendants of circumventing the Open Meetings Law by'
1. deliberating official business outside of publicly noticed meetings;
2. issuing resolutions styled as official acts of the Commission without lawful proceedings;
3. failing to provide notice, agenda, or opportunity for public comment;
4. circumventing the constitutional and statutory mandates of transparency and open government.
The lawsuit requests the Court rule that the three resolutions violated the Open Meetings Law. Additionally, the Attorney General seeks an injunction directing the named defendants to strictly comply with all provisions of the Open Meetings Law.
The litigation also requested that civil penalties be assessed against each of the seven commissioners. Additionally, the Court is requested to award costs of the proceedings along with attorney fees to the Attorney General's Office
This litigation is precedent setting. The first issue that must be addressed is if the Caddo Commission Attorney will represent the seven defendants or refer the case to outside counsel to be paid with Parish funds.