You readers are probably aware of the phenomena called a “Friday news dump.” For the uninitiated, it’s the tactic of waiting until late in the day on a Friday to make public things you don’t really want the public to notice. The idea being that by Friday evening, the people who would notice are in…
For Some of North Dakota’s Small Towns Not Even the Law Is an Open Record
North Dakota has some potent open records laws because of these two foundational requirements of government: Every record the government has is presumed open to the public unless specifically exempted by law. If a governing entity denies a request for records, they must justify the denial by citing the law exempting the records. Unfortunately, many…
Attorney General: City Violated Open Meetings Law by Holding Council Meeting Out of Town
Often entities of North Dakota’s government, particularly local governments and committees and agencies, hold meetings far from their usual place of business. I’ve been critical of this practice in the past, such as when a board at North Dakota State University decided to hold an annual meeting in Minneapolis. How can a meeting of a…
North Dakota’s Public Officials Should Be Required to Record Meetings Even When They’re Closed to the Public
Most of you reading this probably don’t live in Fargo, so you might not much care that the local park board there violated open meetings law, but if you’re a resident of North Dakota you should be paying attention because how this situation is being handled could very well be how some government entity in…
Attorney General: Fargo Park Board Broke the Law With Meeting at Which Former Director Joel Vettel Resigned
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has concluded that the Fargo Park Board broke open meeting law with too-vague agenda for a meeting at which former parks director Joel Vettel resigned. “The vague topic ‘HR/Staff review’ did not sufficiently describe the specific topic the commmission [sic] clearly knew it would be discussing at the special…
Organizer of Referendum Petition Campaigns Says They Don’t Have Enough Signatures Yet
A citizen-led organization calling themselves Audit the Swamp has begun gathering signatures to refer three pieces of legislation, passed by the Legislature earlier this year, to the statewide ballot. They want to block legislation appropriating money to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library project in Medora, excluding lawmaker emails to state agencies from open records requests,…
These Fargo Elected Leaders Are Dodging Accountability and It Stinks
This post might seem like an intensely local issue, important only to people who live in Fargo, but as you read this remember the same tactic could be deployed by your local leaders. Around the 4th of July holiday Fargo Park District executive director Joel Vettel – a well-known face in the community after a…
Chancellor Hagerott’s Open Records Dodges Are Too Cute by Half
From what I’m hearing the interim President at the University of North Dakota, who will be taking over for departing President Mark Kennedy, is the school’s medical school dean Joshua Wynne. He’s one of the named finalists, and I’m also told he’s not interested in the gig long term. He told my colleague Sydney Mook…
DOT Attempted to Obscure That Director Under Investigation Was on Paid Leave
Earlier this year Glenn Jackson, the former director of the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s drivers license division, was placed on leave pending an investigation into his conduct with female subordinates. He ultimately resigned this month (you can read the entire investigation report into his conduct here). What’s bizarre is how the DOT has handled…
Public Meetings Held Out of State Should Be Illegal
Back in 2012 I requested from Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s office an opinion on open meetings law as it applied to a supposedly public meeting of North Dakota State’s Technology and Research Park which was held in Minneapolis. How in the world can a meeting be open to North Dakotans if it is held hundreds…