County business

After months of legal wrangling and thousands of dollars in legal fees on both sides, a lawsuit filed by Jay Purcell, 2nd District Cape Girardeau County commissioner, has decided one issue: County commissions aren't legal entities and can't be sued.

Purcell had hoped his lawsuit, which produced the narrow ruling by the Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals, would result in a decision declaring the illegality of a closed commission meeting in 2008 -- even though Purcell made the motion to go into the executive session and led much of the discussion that led to a request for the county auditor to resign. Purcell later claimed that discussion should not have been handled in a closed session.

The lawsuit was filed after Purcell learned his secret audio recording of the closed meeting might be considered a violation subject to a fine a jail time. If the meeting was illegal, his secret recording would not be a crime.

At trial, a circuit court judge ruled that the commission did not intend to violate the Missouri Sunshine Law. Purcell appealed. The county says it has spent more than $19,000 in legal fees. Purcell says he has spent $16,000 to sue the commission of which he is a member.

Purcell can appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, refile his lawsuit naming individual commissioners as defendants (presumably including himself) or let the matter drop. It may be time to focus on other county business.