Opinion ID: 2094322
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Summary Judgment Dismissing the Superintendent.

Text: In a separate ruling, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the district's superintendent who had been included as a defendant in this action alleging violation of the open meetings act and seeking sanctions. The district court concluded that, the act affects the actions of governmental bodies and only authorizes sanctions against members of those bodies. To the extent that violations of the open meetings act by a governmental body were alleged, the court found that this body would be the school's board of directors. Iowa Code § 21.2(1)(b) (governmental body means a board, council, commission, or other governing body of a political subdivision or tax-supported district). The superintendent is not a member of the board. Remedies for violation of the open meetings act may only be visited upon those member[s] of the governmental body who participated in [the] violation. Iowa Code § 21.6(3)(a). Plaintiff urges that the superintendent should also be subject to sanction because, although not allowed to vote, he regularly attends meetings, steers the deliberations, and is a person primarily responsible for the preparation and dissemination of the school board's meeting agenda. She urges that to allow such an active participant to escape being subject to the provisions of the open meetings act, particularly when agenda violations are alleged, defeats the policy underlying the open meetings act. We are convinced that the district court was correct in concluding that only members of the governmental body conducting the meeting are subject to the provisions of the open meetings act. The statutory language is clear that this is so. Moreover, we are not persuaded that limiting the requirements and sanctions of the open meetings act to those persons having policy-making authority is inconsistent with the purposes of this legislation. The district court correctly dismissed the claim against the superintendent.