Lawsuit Settlement Will Come From Commission Budget

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The Board of Lewis County Commissioners will absorb a settlement of $20,000 plus yet-to-be-determined attorney fees in a lawsuit alleging multiple violations of the state Open Public Meetings Act in their office’s budget, before attempting to recoup the money through the individual commissioners’ bonds. 

The board agreed to that course of action at a briefing Tuesday with Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer, Budget Manager Becky Butler and Chief Accountant Suzette Smith. 

Meyer urged the commissioners to take steps to pay the $20,000 portion, even though the attorney fees haven’t yet been negotiated.

“My preference is that we get what we agree on paid now,” he said. 

The commissioners first met with county staff last week to determine how to pay the settlement. At that time, Butler told them they had three options, which were to pay individually, pull the money from the county’s risk management insurance or pay through the county budget, specifically the commissioners’ office budget.

“I believe it would be cleaner if it was paid directly out of the commissioners’ budget” rather than another fund, said Lewis County Risk Manager Paulette Young on Tuesday.

Young and Butler noted that any other county department would likely handle the settlement the same way.

The commissioners plan to claim the amount on their liability bonds in an effort to reimburse their budget. 

Elected officials in Washington are all required to have liability bonds.

It is unknown at this time if the bonds will reimburse the county for the settlement. 

“What I was told is in order for us to even know if this will come through for us, we have to make the claim,” Commissioner Bobby Jackson said.



The lawsuit was filed April 21 by Brian Cortland and Brian Green after reporting by The Chronicle on one instance of a meeting of the county commission being called without proper notice and that the Board of Commissioners were operating on the principle that the board was in open session from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day while in the Lewis County Courthouse.

The lawsuit argued that the county’s public meeting policy has been illegal and that the commissioners knew it. 

On May 1, the commission began following to a new county meeting policy that would in some cases be more restrictive than the OPMA itself. 

Cortland and Green’s lawsuit identified more than a dozen instances in which the commissioners allegedly met without proper notice. 

Late last month, Lewis County proposed the settlement of $20,000 plus attorney fees to Cortland’s and Green’s attorney, Joseph Thomas. 

Thomas accepted on behalf of his clients. 

The commissioners rejected a $250,000 settlement offer from Cortland and Green in early June.

While the parties have agreed on the $20,000, they have yet to agree on the attorney fees. 

A court hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 25 in Thurston County Superior Court. 

Meyer said the agreement will likely be signed by the judge at that time. County staff will also deliver the $20,000 settlement — $10,000 each to Green and Cortland — after the settlement is formally entered in the court record.