Judge asked to rule on regents’ meetings

Thursday, May 20, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

The Nevada attorney general's office has asked District Judge Jackie Glass to issue a summary judgment on whether university regents violated the state's open-meeting law during their Nov. 17 and Nov. 20 closed sessions.

The motion, filed Tuesday by Assistant Solicitor General Richard Linstrom, asks Glass to rule on several supposed open-meeting law violations at an upcoming June 14 meeting.

If Glass rules the regents did violate the open-meeting law, she can also void the decisions regents made to demote Community College of Southern Nevada President Ron Remington and lobbyist John Cummings.

Remington's replacement, Richard Carpenter, is scheduled to begin Aug. 1 if his appointment is approved by regents in June.

Remington's and Cummings' personal lawsuits against the board have been combined with the attorney general's suit.

The attorney general's office is asking for a summary judgment because the material facts in this case are not disputed. What is disputed is whether the actions taken by the board were in violation of the open-meeting law.

"It is clear from the undisputed material facts in this matter that the board violated the Nevada open-meeting law," Linstrom says in the motion.

Attorneys for the University and Community College System of Nevada have repeatedly denied that any of the board's actions at the November meetings were in violation of the open-meeting law. They have not yet filed a response to Linstrom's request for summary judgment.

The attorney general's office alleges regents violated the open-meeting law by voting, deliberating and forming a consensus during the meeting; considering the character of elected officials in closed session; improperly noticing individuals they would be discussed or have administrative action taken against them; excluding persons from attending the closed session; and taking actions outside the scope of the agenda.

Glass has already ruled that regents properly noticed individuals and that they were not required to allow those individuals to attend the closed session.