Judge’s Ruling Doubles Down on Importance of Open Meeting Laws
Trevor Phipps
After years of court battles and appeals, local parent and community activist Erin O’Connell emerged victorious in a lengthy fight against the Woodland Park School District.
In the end, O’Connell, who also is known locally as an accomplished musician and singer, was awarded $144,822 in attorney fees and court costs after successfully proving that the district’s board violated Colorado’s open meetings laws.
The lawsuit stems from actions made by the school board that was elected in 2021 calling themselves the “Conservative” slate. O’Connell first filed the lawsuit in 2022 when the board approved the Merit Academy charter school contract during a meeting labeled “Board Housekeeping.”
In April 2022, District Court Judge Scott Sells ruled in O’Connell’s favor and agreed that the school board violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Laws (COML) saying that the “Board Housekeeping” agenda item “was a conscious decision to hide a controversial issue.”
In his initial ruling, Judge Sells ordered the school board to follow COML’s notice provision “by clearly, honestly and forthrightly” listing any future agenda items having to do with the Merit Academy charter school. The school board then held another meeting to approve the charter school contract.
Sells then further ruled that O’Connell was not a “prevailing party” who could collect costs and attorney fees. Sells decided that the school board remedied the COML violation by holding subsequent meetings to approve the Merit Academy charter.
Then came the appeals. After Judge Sells’ decision, O’Connell who was represented by a board member of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, Eric Maxfield, chose to appeal the district court’s decision.
The case then went to the Colorado Court of Appeals. But then, the Court of Appeals reinforced Sells’ ruling stating that the board had remedied their COML violation.
But the case wasn’t finished yet. O’Connell’s attorney filed for another appeal sending the case to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Then during a 2025 decision in the Supreme Court, O’Connell finally got her big victory. The state’s highest court reversed a portion of the Court of Appeals and district court’s ruling.
The Supreme Court decided that a COML violation was made by the school board. The court ruled that a violation occurred and then it was only cured after O’Connell filed a lawsuit. The court then determined that O’Connell should be awarded money to payback her court coats and attorney fees
Case Returns to District Court
The 2025 Supreme Court ruling then sent the decision back to the local district court to decide the amount of money O’Connell should be awarded. During the hearing heard by Teller County District Court Judge William Moller on Feb. 13, attorneys on both sides argued their cases for how much money O’Connell should be compensated.
During the hearing, the school district’s attorney Bryce Carlson argued that O’Connell should only receive a reward of around $40,000. Carlson argued that after over four years of litigation, O’Connell only prevailed on a “single narrow issue.”
O’Connell’s attorney on the other hand, asked for $144,305 in attorney fees and $4,517 in court costs after agreeing to lower an earlier request by $10,810. The school district’s attorney argued that some of O’Connell’s claims were unsuccessful, and the Supreme Court only agreed with a small part of her case.
However, after reading through O’Connell’s detailed billing records, Judge Moller found them reasonable and sided with the local parent. “I find that even if true, they were ancillary to the overall purpose of O’Connell’s suit which was to show that the Woodland Park School Board had violated the COML and was accountable for so doing,” Judge Moller stated in his ruling. “Equally important was the holding by the Colorado Supreme Court reinforcing that previous decisions made in violation of the COML could not be merely ‘rubber-stamped.’”
Ruling Could Set a New Precedent
Overall, Judge Moller determined that the school district prolonged the litigation and failed to recognize its responsibilities under the COML. He stated that the district should foot the bill for what he called four years of “aggressive litigation.”
“The position argued by the School Board would, had the Colorado Supreme Court adopted it, have allowed the School Board to escape repercussions for its actions,” the judge wrote. “Similarly, it would have allowed this school board, and other public bodies, to violate the COML with relative impunity because any violation could be remedied by a remedial cure.”
The judge said that the Supreme Court ruling should send an important message to governing bodies across the state. “Based on the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court, government entities can be held accountable for their actions by being forced to pay an opposing party’s fees and costs,” Judge Moller wrote. “Consequently, I find the results of the litigation far exceeded what defendants’ counsel argues because the litigation results have state-wide implications.”
According to the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, “the open meetings law requires public bodies to post notice of meetings at least 24 hours ahead of time with ‘specific agenda information where possible.’”
