Court Opinion

ID: 9796269
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:53:23.158293+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:49:25.721048
License: Public Domain

Maupin, C. J.,
with whom Young and Leavitt, JJ., join, dissenting:
I agree that NRS 281.005(1) defines who is a public officer within the context of the open meeting law; however, I believe that the community college president satisfies the statutory criteria.
Under NRS 281.005(1), the community college president is a “public officer” if the position:
(a) Is established by the constitution or a statute of this state, or by a charter or ordinance of a political subdivision of this state; and
*207(b) Involves the continuous exercise, as part of the regular and permanent administration of the government, of a public power, trust or duty.

NRS 281.005(1) (a)

In my opinion, the University system and its governing Board comprise a political subdivision of the state. Indeed, the majority concedes that they have been so-defined by the Legislature, in NRS chapter 396, which governs the state’s institutions of higher education.1 The Board’s governing documents, including the bylaws that establish the position of community college president and prescribe its duties, are the laws under which the University system operates. These documents serve the same purpose as a municipal body’s charter, and I consider them to be sufficiently analogous to conclude that the position at issue meets the first statutory requisite of a public officer: the community college presidency was established by law.

NRS 281.005(l)(b)

In my opinion, the position also meets the remaining statutory requisites of a public officer; the community college president has been entrusted by law with a significant part of the state’s sovereign functions of higher education. As the majority acknowledges, the president of CCSN oversees a $65 million budget, hires and fires personnel, supervises 35,000 students and faculty members, and issues subpoenas in disciplinary proceedings instituted to enforce the University system’s laws. In other words, the position involves the continuous exercise of a public power, trust or duty, and this exercise of public responsibility is part of regular and permanent government administration.
I believe that this interpretation of NRS 281.005(1) is reasonable, and that it promotes the legislative purpose underlying the open meeting law: namely, that public bodies deliberate openly and act openly.2 Because the community college president is a public officer, the Committee should be prohibited from holding a closed session to interview candidates for possible appointment to this public office. Thus, I would affirm the district court’s order.

NRS 396.838 (defining “University” as “the University and Community College System of Nevada, ... a political subdivision of this state”); NRS 396.813 (defining “Board” as the board of regents, and stating that it “is a political subdivision of this state”).

NRS 241.010; McKay v. Bd. of Supervisors, 102 Nev. 644, 651, 730 P.2d 438, 443 (1986).