BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed a lawsuit against the Livingston Parish Library Board of Control, alleging the board violated the state's Open Meetings Law during a July 15, 2025 meeting where they terminated their executive director.
The lawsuit, filed in Livingston Parish's Twenty-First Judicial District Court, names the library board and all of its members, including board president Jennifer Dorhauer and Parish President Randy Delatte, who serves as an ex officio member.
According to the petition, the controversy centers on events during the board's July 15 meeting. The published agenda included an executive session listed as "Annual Performance Evaluation of the Livingston Parish Library Director – Jennifer Dorhauer, Board President."
Before entering the closed executive session, board president Dorhauer publicly stated that no vote would be taken following the session and that members of the public could leave the meeting without missing anything, the lawsuit alleges. Many citizens left based on these assurances.
However, after approximately two and a half hours in executive session, the board returned to open session and immediately voted to terminate the executive director's employment contract. The Attorney General's office argues this action violated multiple provisions of Louisiana's Open Meetings Law.
The lawsuit contends the board failed to properly notice the termination vote on the agenda, did not follow procedures for adding items to the agenda during meetings, and effectively discouraged public participation by misleading attendees about planned actions.
On July 17, 2025, the Attorney General received formal complaints from four citizens: Ryan Westmoreland, Jordan Gonzales, Melissa Anderson, and Vicki Leger Turner. Additional complainants Connie Shipp and Dandra Kelly joined a supplemental complaint filed July 22.
The Attorney General is seeking several remedies, including a declaration that the board violated Open Meetings Law, an injunction requiring future compliance, nullification of the July 15 termination vote, civil penalties against board members who knowingly participated in violations, and attorney's fees.
Louisiana's Open Meetings Law, codified in Louisiana Revised Statutes 42:11 et seq., is designed to ensure transparency in government operations. The law requires public bodies to conduct business openly and provide adequate notice of agenda items, with limited exceptions for executive sessions on specific matters.
The petition argues that the board's conduct violated both the letter and spirit of the law by constructively excluding the public from a significant decision through misleading statements about planned actions.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available. Court proceedings and responses from the defendants are pending.
