Public Access Counselor: IU trustees violated Open Door Law in Bloomington

Luke H. Britt, the Indiana public access counselor, said the board’s facilities and auxiliaries committee violated the Open Door Law on Aug. 24 when it began — and ended — its meeting before the scheduled start time.

“Someone who is interested in observing the meeting of the Facilities and Auxiliaries Committee is not necessarily expected to sit through the entirety of the Board of Trustees meeting,” Britt wrote. “If an audience member wants to pick and choose which committees to observe and schedule their day accordingly, the law allows them to do so.”

The Open Door Law, passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 1977, was enacted to permit the public access to meetings held by public agencies for the purpose of witnessing government in action and more fully participating in the governmental process.

The Herald-Times on Sept. 1 filed a complaint with Britt’s office because the IU board’s facilities committee on Aug. 24 had finished its meeting about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to begin. The committee discussed, among other items, its $81 million housing project on the site of the former Poplars Building, which IU tore down last year.