Archives for November 2009

From the Rexburg Standard Journal

REXBURG — A special prosecutor will investigate the Rexburg mayor and City Council for alleged violations of Idaho’s open meeting laws.

The announcement was made in an official letter from the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office to Maria Nate, who had filed a complaint with the office regarding the Nov. 4 appointment of Mayor Richard Woodland by the Rexburg City Council.

On Wednesday the Prosecutor’s Office submitted a motion for the District Court judge to appoint a special prosecutor who will investigate the matter and make a decision.

There is no word on who the special prosecutor will be or when the investigation will begin.

On Tuesday, Nate met with Madison Chief Deputy Prosecutor Troy Evans to present evidence of the City Council violating Idaho’s open meeting law.

Nate declined to comment on the nature of evidence she presented to prosecutors so as not to tip her hand at this stage of the legal process. She did say that she was informed by Evans that there is sufficient cause to move forward with an investigation.

Evans confirmed Nate’s statement and said that while they have not decided on whether a violation did happen, there is an investigation pending.

“We found sufficient evidence that warrants the next step, which is an investigation,” said Evans.

Evans also declined to disclose the nature of the evidence as it is now a legal case pending investigation. But he did say that three or four people in addition to Nate have come forward and offered evidence regarding the alleged violations.

The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office will not be conducting the investigation to avoid any possible conflicts of interest.

The letter sent to Nate implies that conflicts of interest could be an issue because the Prosecutor’s Office works closely with the Rexburg City Council on many issues, and the Prosecutor’s Office jointly employs a deputy prosecutor with the city of Rexburg.

If the pending investigation finds that members of the City Council did violate Idaho’s open meeting law, they could each be fined up to $500.

NATE SUNDERLAND

nsunderland@uvsj.com

From the Rexburg Standard Journal

From the Idaho Press-Tribune

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Attorney General’s office has told Nampa Classical Academy officials the state won’t back down from pursuing information about the charter school’s possible use of the Bible and other religious texts.

The academy is defying an order from the Idaho Public Charter School Commission to turn over the data. An Arizona-based religious liberty group that is defending the school threatened in a Wednesday letter to sue the commission if it continues to seek the information.

The Alliance Defense Fund said the school doesn’t have to hand over anything because of a federal lawsuit it filed in September against the state concerning the school’s plan to use the Bible.

The group said in the Wednesday letter that it is considering a second lawsuit against the state to determine whether the school is operating within the boundaries of state law.

But deputy attorney general Mike Gilmore told school officials in an e-mail sent Friday that the commission and its program manager, Tamara Baysinger, will continue to seek the information from the school.

“Filing suit in federal court is not a ‘Get Out (of) Jail Free’ card that exempts NCA from oversight for expenditure of tax dollars and from conducting its educational mission in accordance with state law,” Gilmore wrote in the e-mail, which was obtained by the Idaho Press-Tribune.

Charter Commission chairman Bill Goesling also had strong words for school officials, saying that the usage of religious texts would likely lead to the revocation of the school’s charter.

“If they want to use religious texts they need to be a private school,” he said. “Public funds are not available for that.”

Nampa Classical Academy acting board chairman Mike Moffett said he didn’t know if or when the school would begin using religious texts.

The school drew attention last summer when school officials said they planned to use the Bible as a primary source of teaching material, but not to teach religion. The commission told the academy it couldn’t use the Bible as an instructional text.

That led to the lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund, which argues the school has a right to use religious texts as a part of its curriculum.

The school has since denied the commission a public records request and visit to its southwest Idaho campus.

Commissioners have meanwhile identified several areas of noncompliance with state rules for charter schools and voted to send the academy notices of defect — the first step in a lengthy process that could result in closure.

In its letter to the commission on Wednesday, the Alliance Defense Fund said the commission’s reprimands of the school were “retaliation” for the first lawsuit.

From the Idaho Press-Tribune