Opinion ID: 2598554
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Committee meeting

Text: The Committee held a meeting on September 7, 2000. The agenda included an informational topic, Review of UCCSN Policies on Reporting, described as: Review UCCSN, state and federal statutes, regulations, case law, and policies that govern the release of materials, documents, and reports to the public. Before discussing the topic, Regent Tom Kirkpatrick explained that this was an informational item only, and that the Committee had to be very careful in discussing this item and taking action because of certain state and federal laws. Tom Ray, general counsel, then gave an overview of federal and state laws related to the release of documents to the public. Following Mr. Ray's presentation, Regent Douglas Hill proceeded to discuss a controversial report, prepared by the Nevada Division of Investigation (NDI), regarding a dormitory raid that occurred on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus. Regent Hill discussed details of the dormitory raid, criticized the UNLV police department's actions, and recommended that the UNLV police department be disarmed. Regent David Phillips then commented on the danger of drugs on the UNLV campus. Throughout the discussion, Mr. Ray warned the Committee to cease discussing this issue. He warned the regents that the discussion might implicate personnel issues and violate the Open Meeting Law because the topic was not on the agenda. He also recommended that the Committee put the item on the agenda for a future meeting. After Mr. Ray's third warning, Regent Kirkpatrick terminated the discussion. Board meeting On September 7-8, 2000, the Board held a regular meeting. The agenda included a section titled Committee Reports, under which read: Please refer to the specific committee agendas for complete reference materials and/or reports. The Campus Environment Committee was listed as a topic under the Committee Reports section and was described as follows: Chairman Tom Kirkpatrick will present a report on the Campus Environment committee meeting held September 7, 2000 and requests Board action on the following recommendations of the committee:  Round Table Discussion of Actions and Schedule of Topics to be Discussed with Campus RepresentativesThe committee reviewed previous actions and unfinished business of the committee and compiled a schedule of topics for the remainder of this year. At the Board meeting, Regent Kirkpatrick reported that the Committee discussed issues to be addressed for the remainder of the year. He also conveyed what Mr. Ray explained to the Committee regarding the laws that govern the release of documents to the public. Regent Kirkpatrick then informed the Board that a request was made for an additional report regarding the investigation into the UNLV dormitory raid incident, which would address the actions of the UNLV police while not disclosing names of the officers involved. He also informed the Board that a request was made to examine the possibility of disarming the UNLV police department. Following a motion to approve the Committee's recommendations and to accept Regent Kirkpatrick's report, Regent Mark Alden asked whether UNLV President Dr. Carol Harter could request NDI to bifurcate the report about the UNLV dormitory raid, making it a general summary of the incident that could be released to the public. Mr. Ray responded that NDI might be able to redact confidential information from the report, but recommended that the UNLV administration or general counsel's office should do so instead. Chancellor Jane Nichols agreed to work with NDI in an attempt to redact the report. The Board agreed, however, that obtaining a new NDI report should be included in the prior motion, and thus, the Board did not take official action to obtain a redacted report.