Tulare County Files Response in Lawsuit Alleging Brown Act Violations

July 30, 2010

Today, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors filed its response in a lawsuit alleging Brown Act violations filed by Richard P. McKee, the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register, and the California Newspapers Publishers Association. 

This is the second response filed by the Board of Supervisors during the lawsuit.  The first petition was dismissed because it did not allege sufficient facts to sustain a cause of action against the Board, according to Tulare County Superior Court Judge Melinda Reed’s June 30, 2010 ruling.

McKee amended and filed the second amended petition on July 20, 2010, which extended the lawsuit.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve Worthley said the Board is making the same request for dismissal regarding the second petition.

Counsel for the Board, who believe no new facts are alleged, anticipate that the second petition also will be dismissed.

McKee filed the lawsuit in March 2010 alleging the Tulare County Board of Supervisors violated the Brown Act – California’s open-meeting law – when eating meals together in numbers constituting a majority. The Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance Register and the California Newspaper Publishers Association later joined as plaintiffs. The Board of Supervisors maintain that they did not violate the opening meeting law by attending lunch together because discussions had during meetings were not within the scope of the Brown Act.