OKDHS General Counsel Provides Response to District Attorney Regarding Allegations of Open Meeting Act Violations by Commission

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The General Counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has issued a written response on behalf of the Human Services Commission to Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater regarding complaints his office received about the Commission's compliance with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.

“We do not believe there have been any violations of the Open Meeting Act and certainly no blatant disregard of law,” said Charles Waters, OKDHS General Counsel on behalf of Commission Chairman Dr. Richard DeVaughn.

“We take seriously our obligations to follow the law and have a long history of complying with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act,” said Waters. “We do not wish to do anything which would diminish our record in this area. Until now, the last complaint we received was in 1987, nearly twenty five years ago when a provider questioned the specificity of an agenda item. Since that time the Commission on Human Services has held approximately 240 public meetings and considered well over 3,000 agenda items without a complaint.

“DHS provides services to over 1 million citizens. The monthly Commission meetings are well attended by the public and press. As evidenced by this record, we have sought to be a positive example to other state agencies in following both the letter and spirit of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.

“Despite this record of achievement, we believe that by following your suggestions we can do an even better job.”

Prater concluded in his letter to the Commission that the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act was not violated in the wording of an agenda item calling for the adoption of the Budget Work Program for fiscal year 2012. However, Prater said the Commission could, in the future, be more specific on the agenda when major policy changes are contemplated.

“While consideration and approval of a budget totaling almost 500 million dollars could never spell out each and every detail, we will as you propose, attempt in future agenda items to set forth the major changes contemplated by the action,” said Waters.

“The allegation that the Commission on Human Services is circumventing the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act by utilizing several committees to facilitate its work is simply not true,” said Waters.

The committees created by the Commission comply with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s opinion and the Oklahoma Supreme Court rulings.  The committees have no final decision making authority and only make recommendations that any commissioner could move to amend or change.  The committees do not eliminate matters from future consideration by the Commission but simply obtain information and make recommendations to the Commission without exercising actual or de facto decision making. Any proposal submitted to the Commission is subject to approval, rejection or amendment and is not final until acted upon by the Commission at a public meeting.

There was also no violation of the Commission in regard to executive sessions, said Waters.

Like other state boards, the Commission holds executive sessions at each regularly scheduled meeting to receive a report from the General Counsel on the status of litigation and a report from the Office of Client Advocacy, said Waters.

On occasion, the Commission is required to approve a lawsuit settlement. If a matter discussed in executive session, such as the settlement of a lawsuit, also requires Commission approval, such matters are posted on the open agenda and a public vote is taken in Open Session as required by the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.

If no action is required, the Commission votes to adjourn immediately following executive session.  In recent years, these votes have been done quickly and informally with members gathered around.

A member of the public remained in the otherwise empty room after the June 14 executive session and mistakenly thought votes were not taken. The Chairman of the Commission has directed that in future meetings, all Commissioners will return to their assigned seats and perform this process with more formality to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

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Read the response letter (.pdf, 16 pp, KB) to Oklahoma County District Attorney, David Prater