A lawsuit filed almost a year ago involving the Christian County Library and four current and former members of its Board of Trustees has been dismissed following a settlement between the plaintiffs and defendants. It was dismissed July 30.
The suit was filed by then Library District attorney Harry Styron on behalf of the district and now former Trustee Janis Hagen, against trustees Diana Brazeale, John Garrity and Echo Schneider. It accused those three trustees of violating sunshine law open meeting rules by coordinating an otherwise unplanned vote to remove former Trustee Allyson Tuckness from her role as board president.
Tuckness later resigned from the board entirely. The board would eventually vote to end its contract with district attorney Styron. The shakeup and lawsuit came amid ongoing conflicts between the board and district leadership that resulted in district Executive Director Renee Brumett resigning early this year and Interim Director Tory Pegram’s being fired by the board in June.
Per the settlement no parties admit liability. It also required the current board vote on a new Sunshine Law policy for the district. That policy would have required the district consult independent counsel in disagreements about Sunshine Law application. The settlement was not contingent on the success of that vote. The Christian County Library board considered it during their July meeting, it failed unanimously.
Current attorney for Plaintiff Janis Hagen Christiaan Horton said Hagen “wanted to resolve this case expeditiously and at least expense to the Library District.”
KSMU reached out for a statement from the attorney for the defendants but has not received a reply at the time of this story’s publication.