Open Meetings Act Complaint ‘Unable to be Resolved’ After County Blames Sheriff Office for Preventing Meeting Access

This morning the Washington County Board of County Commissioners announced the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board (OMCB) findings in two separate complaints filed against the Commissioners. In the first complaint, the Board found no violations of the Open Meetings Act, concluding that the County Board’s agenda descriptions were adequate and the removal of a disruptive individual was justified. However, contrary to statements made today by County Administrator Michelle Gordon, the OMCB was unable to resolve a complaint due to insufficient information regarding whether a ban on an individual from a public meeting was officially sanctioned.

In the first complaint, a complainant alleged that the Washington County Board of County Commissioners violated the Open Meetings Act through an insufficiently detailed agenda and by improperly removing him from a meeting held on August 26, 2025. The complainant argued that the agenda’s descriptions of two public hearings were intentionally vague, specifically omitting mention of public comment periods, which he claimed was done to suppress citizen participation. The Open Meetings Act requires public bodies to provide agendas that list known items of business or topics for discussion, aiming to inform the public about meeting content. While the OMCB acknowledged that a reasonable person might not always assume a public hearing includes a public comment period, it found the agenda descriptions sufficient as they accurately reflected the business to be discussed. The OMCB referenced previous decisions stating that agenda descriptions do not need to be exhaustive.

Regarding the second complaint, an individual alleged that the Washington County Board of County Commissioners prevented someone, who had been removed from a morning session on June 3, 2025, from attending a subsequent meeting later that same evening. The complainant asserted that a Washington County Sheriff’s Office officer, allegedly acting on orders from the County Board, warned the individual that attendance at the evening meeting would result in arrest. The County Board, however, denied that any of its commissioners issued such an order, resulting in the OMCB being unable to resolve the complaint.

“Because we are not a fact finding tribunal equipped to resolve such disputes, we are unable to resolve this complaint,” read Gordon during the meeting, “thus we find no violation of the act occurred.”

However, while the Compliance Board determined that due to a factual dispute about whether the officer was acting on behalf of the County Board it could not resolve this complaint, at no point did the Compliance Board state in their ruling that no violation occurred. The Board did note that the Open Meetings Act allows for the removal of individuals whose behavior disrupts a session but does not permit a preemptive ban based on anticipation of disruption.

“The Compliance Board’s opinions speak for themselves,” stated Counsel to the Open Meetings Compliance Board Rachel Simmonsen in an email to Radio Free Hub City when reached for clarification. “In 19 OMCB Opinions 296 (2025), the Compliance Board said that it was unable to resolve the complaint.”

Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Washington County Government did not provide comment as of publication.

Article by Ken Buckler, based upon information from the Open Meetings Compliance Board and the November 11, 2025 County Commissioner meeting

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