Official: N. Ind. town violated open meetings law

MUNSTER, Ind. — The state’s public access counselor has ruled a town along Lake Michigan violated the Indiana Open Door Law when it held an emergency meeting last month to suspend a deer cull.

But Public Access Counselor Joseph Hoage told The Times of Munster that the meeting’s timing left the Ogden Dunes Town Council in an almost untenable position.

A former Town councilman complained the council violated the open meetings law by deciding Friday, Jan. 20, to meet the following Monday. The Open Door Law requires 48 hours’ notice, excluding weekends and legal holidays. An exception is allowed in emergencies.

Hoage says there wasn’t an emergency. But he says if the council didn’t act, there would have been an unnecessary state hearing on the issue the next day.