Legal Settlements Must be on Public Meeting Agendas

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law a measure to force governmental bodies to report legal settlements on their meeting agendas. The measure also says entities cannot use confidentiality agreements as an excuse to keep settlements secret.

The law was prompted by a secret $200,000 payment to an aide of a former Papillion mayor last year after the aide alleged former Mayor James Blinn had sexually harassed and assaulted her.

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New Jersey Supreme Court Makes City' Confidential Settlement Public

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that an out-of-court settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit is a public document. The Asbury Park Press and John Paff of the Open Government Advocacy Project made a request under the state's Open Public Records Act for the settlement document of a lawsuit brought against Monmouth County officials. The Board of Freeholders refused, citing a confidentiality agreement among all parties. The Court rejected those grounds.

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New Jersey Bill Bans Confidential Settlements

Taxpayers shouldn't have to sue to find out how much they are paying to settle lawsuits - lawsuits that are sometimes settled for big bucks because government officials botched their jobs.

But that's exactly what's been happening in the case of confidential settlements involving public agencies. The Press twice has gone to court - and won - to overturn the confidentiality provisions of settlements involving public agencies. Courts ruled in such cases that the public has a right to know what it's paying in settlements. But without a law, taxpayers were forced to hire a lawyer to pry these settlements open.

That unfairness would end, if a bill sponsored by state Sen. Nia H. Gill, D-Essex, Bergen, becomes law. Gill's bill, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, would ban confidential settlements when a public agency is involved.

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