Attorney sees victories in Missouri Sunshine Law cases over access to meetings, records & More Latest News Here – Up Jobs

“The only reason it is going to cost Edgar Springs very much money is because of their hard-headed, stubborn city council,” she said.

Calzone case

Ron Calzone is no stranger to the courtroom. He operates a not-for-profit, Missouri First, and successfully fought the Missouri Ethics Commission over its attempt to force him to register as a lobbyist. He appears regularly before legislative committees and works to influence legislators through one-on-one meetings but does not accept clients or represent his views as anything but his own.

He’s also been an activist on eminent domain issues.

The appeals court ruling establishes a precedent to guide government agencies in emergencies, Calzone said in an interview. 

“What we have is an appellate level opinion that underscores what the Attorney General sent a letter out about, that just because we have a pandemic doesn’t mean the Sunshine Law is suspended,” Calzone said.

The case began when he and his wife, Anne, tried to attend an April 6, 2020, meeting of the Maries County Commission and found the courthouse locked as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There was no notice to the general public of a call-in phone number to access the commission meetings before the Calzones’ lawsuit was filed,” Judge Mary Sheffield noted in the unanimous opinion. “From March 25, 2020 through April 20, 2020, the commission did not post notice of its public meetings in an area reasonably accessible to the general public.” 

The Missouri Sunshine Law requires notice of the time and place of meetings and how the public can attend, essential to transparency and the right to observe and participate in decisions, the court ruled.

“While a global pandemic may justify the suspension of in-person meetings, it does not justify dispensing with the notice requirements of (the law),” Sheffield wrote. “Nor are we free to fashion such an exception to Missouri’s Sunshine Law.”

The case asked for the courts to find that the public had a right to access meetings not otherwise closed by law; that the Maries County Commission had not given proper access or notice of its April 2020 meetings; and it violated a law requiring health orders to be published as a legal notice.

The takeaway is that the rule of law continues to apply, even in emergency situations.

– David Roland, director of litigation for the Freedom Center of MIssouri

“The meeting we wanted to attend was the one we knew where they would discuss the stay at home order and that is a pretty serious decision to make in a vacuum,” Calzone said.

Beger ruled that the commission had not made adequate provision for public participation, either remotely or in person, and failed to publish the order. But he ruled against Calzone on two points: His assertion that the law requires a public body to allow in-person attendance when members are meeting in person; and that the commission had not given adequate notice of its meetings.

The appeals court upheld Beger on the first point but reversed him on the second.

Reached by phone, Maries County Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman had little to say about the ruling.

“Yeah, we probably should have,” he said when asked if the commission should have handled the conflict over access differently.

He declined further comment.

“The takeaway is that the rule of law continues to apply, even in emergency situations,” Roland said. “It is especially important that the rule of law apply in emergency situations. That is when the rule of law is most crucial.”

The case has produced the best possible result, Calzone said. He won two points at trial, showing he was right about his view of the commission’s responsibilities. He won one of two points on appeal, creating a precedent that will guide future court cases.

And he’s got an issue for lawmakers – amending the Sunshine Law to make sure the public is allowed to be physically present when members of governmental bodies hold in-person meetings.

“Any time, if a public body meets, you have to allow the public to attend in the same mode as the public body’s meeting,” Calzone said. “I’ve got what I need to take to the legislature now.”