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New Allegation Against Lee County Board Members

A lawsuit filed against three members of the Lee County Board of Supervisors has been expanded to include a new incident alleged to have occurred just a couple weeks ago.

The initial lawsuit against outgoing Chairman Ernie Schiller and Supervisors Rick Larkin and Ron Fedler was filed by seven Lee County residents in mid-September.

It alleged they violated Iowa's Open Meetings Act by holding secret meetings to discuss a plan to move most of county government to Fort Madison.

There are five members of the Lee County Board, so three members constitutes a quorum.  In most instances, public notice must be made and the meeting must be open when a quorum is present.

The latest alleged violation is said to have happened on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

The supervisors met that day at the Lee County Jail for a regularly-scheduled, weekly meeting.  The lawsuit stated that upon adjournment, Schiller, Fedler, and Larkin remained in a conference room and held a secret meeting.

There were other people in the room with the trio for at least 20 minutes after adjournment.

The lawsuit does not say if the illegal meeting occurred while those people were still in the room or if it occurred after they left.

The attorney for the residents who filed the lawsuit did not respond to requests for comments about the new allegation.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and for the supervisors to be fined for each violation.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.