We never believed for an instant that the four trustees found to have withheld public records were actually going to have to pay for any of that lawsuit to obtain them.
But we figured that there might be an olive branch from the victors or something, rather than a straight up get out of jail free card.
Trustees Susan Jansen, David Burns, Kathleen Dickerson and Doug Englekirk earned that card by landing on the “let’s ignore Nevada’s ethics law” space and voting to stick the school district with the entire bill back in September 2024.
The one piece of legal advice that allowed them to avoid being personally liable for the legal fees dealing with their records was to violate Nevada’s ethics law by voting down a provision that they would have to pay the fees if they lost, which they did.
As the Nevada Commission on Ethics pointed out, the four trustees clearly benefitted financially by that action. That was just about the entire repercussion from this whole sad affair, that and the three remaining trustees had to promise not to do it again.
The plaintiffs spent $166,081 to prosecute the lawsuit, a figure that has been hashed over by both sides.
Oh, and no matter how they spin it, the trustees were actually found to have withheld the records they were supposed to turn over for the better part of a year. If they had done so, rather than argue the point there wouldn’t be much of a legal bill, at all.
One key concern here is that if the majority of a board could simply vote not to be responsible for something, then that removes a key enforcement provision under the records law.
That’s because under the law, the keeper of the records is responsible for turning them over.
Apparently, there is no provision in the law to hold a majority of a board responsible for their actions, though heaven help the lone board member who refuses.
Hopefully, this order won’t become some sort of precedent, prompting elected officials to ignore one Nevada law in order to avoid being held accountable under another.