Free Speech Defense Committee v. Thomas

80 P.3d 935, 2003 Colo. App. LEXIS 1583, 2003 WL 22309306
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 9, 2003
DocketNo. 02CA1692
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 80 P.3d 935 (Free Speech Defense Committee v. Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Free Speech Defense Committee v. Thomas, 80 P.3d 935, 2003 Colo. App. LEXIS 1583, 2003 WL 22309306 (Colo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge MARQUEZ.

Plaintiffs, Free Speech Defense Committee, Ben Sei'ibner, and Taryn Browne, appeal a judgment denying their request for injunc-tive relief and declaring that defendants, David J. Thomas and Citizens Advisory Board for the Office of the District Attorney, First Judicial District, did not violate the Colorado Open Meetings Law, § 24-6-402, C.R.S.2002. We affirm.

The basic facts are undisputed. Thomas, the district attorney for the First Judicial District, established the advisory board in 1993. The board has about twenty to twenty-five members from Jefferson and Gilpin Counties. The members are chosen through a process of written application, telephone interviews, and background screening. They serve two-year terms and meet monthly.

Plaintiffs filed this action for declaratory and injunctive relief when defendants refused to allow them to attend meetings of the advisory board. Evidence was presented that the board has no formal structure or governing rules, and its members do not vote or provide written decisions or recommendations.

The court found that the evidence did not establish that board members give direction to Thomas regarding the operation of his office. According to the court, the activities of the board are to entertain and enlighten the members as to the function and accomplishments of the district attorney’s office. The court also found no evidence that Thomas was ever persuaded to take action by a member’s suggestion, and Thomas was not bound by anything the board told him.

Finding that the district attorney did not fit the definition of a “local public body” or a “state public body” that would be subject to the Colorado Open Meetings Law, the court denied plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief and entered a declaratory judgment in favor of defendants.

Plaintiffs contend that the advisory board is either a local public body or a state public body under the Colorado Open Meetings Law. We disagree.

Issues involving statutory interpretation constitute matters of law. Therefore our review of those issues is de novo. Colantuno v. A. Tenenbaum & Co., 23 P.3d 708 (Colo.2001); Robles v. People, 811 P.2d 804 (Colo.1991).

A court must interpret a statute in a way that gives effect to the General Assembly’s purpose or intent in enacting it. To accomplish this objective, the court must begin with the plain language of the statute. If the statute is unambiguous and does not conflict with other statutory provisions, we need look no further. Only if the language is ambiguous do we look to legislative history, prior law, the consequences of a given construction, and the goal of the statutory scheme to ascertain the correct meaning of the statute. People v. Luther, 58 P.3d 1013 (Colo.2002).

[937]*937Based on the evidence here, the court concluded that the district attorney did not fit any of the applicable definitions. We agree that the district attorney has not violated the statute.

Section 24-6-401, C.R.S.2002, provides: “It is declared to be a matter of statewide concern and the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret.”

Section 24-6-402(2), C.R.S.2002, describes the meetings that must be open, including, as relevant here, the following:

(a) All meetings of two or more members of any state public body at which any public business is discussed or at which any formal action may be taken are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times.
(b) All meetings of a quorum or three or more members of any local public body, whichever is fewer, at which any public business is discussed or at which any formal action may be taken are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times.

Section 24-6-402(1), C.R.S.2002, defines the entities subject to those open meeting requirements, including the following:

(a) “Local public body” means any board, committee, commission, authority, or other advisory, policy-making, rule-making, or formally constituted body of any political subdivision of the state and any public or private entity to which a political subdivision, or an official thereof, has delegated a governmental decision-making function but does not include persons on the administrative staff of the local public body.
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(c) “Political subdivision of the state” includes but is not limited to, any county, city, city and county, town, home rule city, home rule county, home rule city and county, school district, special district, local improvement district, special improvement district, or service district.
(d) “State public body” means any board, committee, commission, or other advisory, policy-making, rule-making, decision-making, or formally constituted body of any state agency, state authority, governing board of a state institution of higher education including the regents of the university of Colorado, a [certain type of] nonprofit corporation ... or the general assembly, and any public or private entity to which the state, or an official thereof, has delegated a governmental decision-making function but does not include persons on the administrative staff of the state public body.

(Emphasis added.)

Plaintiffs argue, based on the definition of “local public body,” that the district attorney is a political subdivision that created an advisory body. Alternatively, plaintiffs argue that under the definition of “state public body,” the district attorney is a “state agency” or a “state authority” that created an advisory body. We reject both arguments.

We perceive no ambiguity in the statute. As relevant here, the first part of the definition of “local public body” includes any advisory body “of any political subdivision of the state.” A district attorney is not included in the definition of a “political subdivision of the state.” The district attorney is a state officer and a member of the executive branch of state government. See People v. Macrander, 828 P.2d 234 (Colo.1992); People v. Dist. Court, 186 Colo. 335, 527 P.2d 50 (1974).

Also, in contrast to the entities enumerated under the definition of “political subdivision,” the district attorney is elected by the electors of a judicial district. See Colo. Const, art. VI, § 13 (district attorneys); see also Colo. Const, art. XIV, § 1 (counties); § 31-2-101, et seq., C.R.S.2002 (cities and towns).

The second part of the definition of “local public body” includes any “entity to which a political subdivision, or an official thereof, has delegated a governmental decision-making function.” Even if the district attorney were such a political subdivision or official, the trial court here found that no governmental decision-making function had been delegated to the advisory board, and plaintiffs do not contest this finding on appeal.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 P.3d 935, 2003 Colo. App. LEXIS 1583, 2003 WL 22309306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/free-speech-defense-committee-v-thomas-coloctapp-2003.