A state judge has ordered Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill to pay nearly $245,000 in legal fees after her office sued the Caddo Commission for allegedly violating the state’s Open Meetings Law. Murrill said she plans to appeal the ruling.
“[The] judge’s actions are clearly punitive,” Murrill said. “He issued a ruling awarding $250,000 in attorney’s fees against the state for enforcing the law.”
Murrill alleges seven Caddo Commissioners violated the state’s Open Meeting Law when they privately met to discuss preparing a resolution to welcome U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to Shreveport in June 2025. Murrill also claims the Commissioners violated state law by approving the resolution with electronic voting machines instead of a live voice vote…
“If every public body decided that they could do business in secret, they could do business without having a meeting and not violate the Open Meetings Law, then we’d have a real problem,” Murrill said.
In his ruling, Judge John Davidson called the state’s lawsuit against the Caddo Commission frivolous, and said it was not investigated properly and should never have been filed. But Murrill said her office is charged with enforcing the Open Meetings Law, and after an investigation, it was determined a violation occurred.
“The ruling is a huge threat to the Open Meetings Law,” Murrill said. “It can’t stand up to judicial scrutiny.”
The appeal will go to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, and it could end up before the Louisiana Supreme Court before it is finally resolved.