Oklahoma Watchdog has provided information to the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office about a possible violation of the Open Meetings Act by the Oklahoma Human Services Commission at its meeting Tuesday.

Towards the end of the meeting, the commissioners went into closed session (Item 9 on the agenda) to discuss pending legal claims and a status report on investigations.  The commissioners went into a different room for the closed session and at the same time, everybody in the main meeting room started to leave.  When asked if she knew how long the closed session would take, DHS Communications Coordinator Sheree Powell stated she didn’t know and added that she doesn’t usually stay until the end of the meeting but rather goes to her office to continue her work.  Oklahoma Watchdog was the only person in the meeting room during the closed session.

That session only lasted about 15-minutes or so before the Commissioners came back from the room.  At this point, it is usual for board members to return to open session and state whether any action was taken during the closed session and continue with the agenda.  But that did not happen Tuesday.  Commissioners started gathering their things and leaving.  When asked if the meeting was over, Commissioner Steve Dow said it was.  During a subsequent interview, Dow stated that the Board’s Clerk asked each member individually for their vote on whether to adjourn.

The Oklahoma Open Meetings Act states:

§ 305. Recording of votes. — In all meetings of public bodies, the vote of each member must be publicly cast and recorded.

Oklahoma Watchdog contacted OSU Media and Communications Associate Professor and Freedom of Information Oklahoma board member Dr. Joey Senat for his opinion on the situation.  He recommended going to the authorities.  On Wednesday afternoon, Oklahoma Watchdog contacted the office of Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland and provided all of the above information.

When asked via e-mail if this was a regular occurrence and if it was a violation of the Open Meetings Act, Powell replied she would ask Legal Counsel about it.  As of the publishing of this story, Powell has not given any further information.  Oklahoma Watchdog will update this story as events unfold.

Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Dr. Senat’s title with OSU. We apologize for the error.

Update #1: Oklahoma Watchdog received a response from Sheree Powell regarding possible Open Meetings Act violations.  Below is the part dealing with the adjournment vote.

Did the Human Services Commission vote to return to regular session after the executive session and did they vote to adjourn?

Although the minutes of the June 14 Commission meeting have not yet been prepared, there was an official vote to return to regular session and a vote to adjourn as recorded by the Commission secretary on roll call sheets (see attached copies). The commission members voted to return to regular session (recorded on a roll call sheet) and exited the room where executive session was held.  They re-entered the public section of the Commission meeting room and the Commission secretary asked each member for a vote to adjourn (recorded on a roll call sheet). Since there is typically no one left in the room when the Commission returns to regular session, commission members did not sit down at their table to vote to adjourn.  There was no violation of the Open Meetings Act

Update #2: Sheree Powell now says via e-mail that the check mark next to Commissioner George Young’s name in the document linked above are “a scrivener’s error” because he had to leave before the closed session and adjournment and therefore was not a ‘Yes” vote.