(BEDFORD) – A hearing of North Lawrence Community Schools’ appeal of the Indiana Public Acess Opinion was conducted early Friday morning in Lawrence County Circuit Court.
The case was heard by Special Judge Holly M. Harvey.
In January, North Lawrence Community School Attorney James G. Pittman asked for a Judicial Review of Luke Britt’s opinion that the school corporation violated the Open Door Law.
Pittman and the school corporation say they didn’t violate the open door law and want the ruling reviewed.
The Indiana Attorney’s office asked the court to dismiss the Judicial Review stating that the school corporation has no standing in the matter.
The Indiana Attorney General’s office argued that the Public Access Counselor’s ruling is just an opinion and is not legally binding and the school corporation does not have any legal standing according to the Indiana law.
In January, the Public Access officer ruled the North Lawrence Visionary Committee is subject to the Open Door Law and they violated that law by holding eight separate closed-door meetings.
This response came after Jason Johnson, of Bedford, filed a complaint on November 19, 2019 to the Indiana Public Access Counselor.
Judge Holly M. Harvey said she would take the matter under advisement and issue a ruling at a later time.
