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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Ind. Courts - More on: "Harrison GOP leader seeks investigation into courthouse visits"

This story from Monday's Indianapolis Star reports "Harrison County Commissioners violated the state's Open Door law." According to Karen Davis, the state's public access counselor, when the commissioners "called a meeting to address a Republican Party official's election concerns without notifying the public," they violated the state's Open Door law. The story continues:

Officials should have canceled the Nov. 3 session and reposted notification of it to allow for the required 48 hours' notice, said [Ms. Davis].

At issue was the commissioners' handling of a meeting that they called to respond to county Republican Party Chairman Larry Shickles' written request to inspect and obtain a copy of a surveillance videotape from the courthouse.

Shickles wanted to review the tape because he said it showed Shawn Donahue, a Democratic Party official and county deputy prosecutor, entering the courthouse after hours and spending a few minutes in a second-floor office.

Donahue said he had used a mechanical paper folder to fold some personal papers, and he denied having any contact with ballots and other items in the county clerk's office.

Corydon lawyer Marian Pearcy filed a complaint with the public access counselor, asserting that the session violated the Open Door law because Shickles' public-record request was not a matter for which a private session can be held.

Here is the Nov. 7, 2006 ILB entry quoting from a Louisville Courier-Journal story that begins: "The chairman of Harrison County's Republican Central Committee has asked the state police to investigate after-hours visits to the county courthouse last week by deputy county prosecutor Shawn Donahue."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 27, 2006 10:02 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts