Jul 11, 2024 | By: Lakeland News

Judge Sides with Person Saying Bemidji Violated Open Meeting Law in Keeping Employee Hearing Closed

A Ninth Judicial District judge has ruled in favor of a person who filed a lawsuit claiming the City of Bemidji violated Minnesota’s open meeting law when it held an employment hearing for a firefighter.

Bill Batchelder

Court documents state the City of Bemidji Merit Hearing Board held a hearing with William “Bill” Batchelder in August of 2022. Batchelder, the owner of the Bemidji Woolen Mills, was employed as a paid on-call firefighter with the city and was appealing a reprimand he received from the Bemidji Fire Department. Batchelder requested the meeting be open to the public, but the board kept the meeting closed.

Bemidji resident C.T. Marhula and the legal team from the Upper Midwest Law Center, which states their mission is to pursue “pro-freedom litigation,” argued that the meeting should have been open based on Batchelder’s request, that it was not electronically recorded, and that there was no public notice of the meeting. The defendants moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the City of Bemidji Merit Hearing Board was not subject to open meeting laws.

But in a decision released on July 8th, Judge Annie P. Claesson-Huesby found that Marhula pled sufficient facts for all three alleged violations and denied the defendants’ request to dismiss the lawsuit. A press release from the Upper Midwest Law Center says the case now likely continues in District Court, with the parameters of the open meeting law established in Marhula’s favor.

Batchelder tells Lakeland News he was terminated from his position as a firefighter with the city but is appealing that decision. We sent an email to Bemidji City Manager Richard Spiczka on Wednesday seeking reaction from the city to the court decision, but did not receive a response as of that night’s newscast.

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