Mahaska County Supervisors File New Lawsuit Against EMA/E911
Mahaska County Supervisors lawsuit against Mahaska E911 Service Board and Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Mahaska County E911 Service Board and the Mahaska County Emergency Management Agency met on Thursday night, mostly in closed session, to discuss legal strategy.
The E911 Service Board held their meeting first, going into a closed session soon after opening their meeting.
The closed session was regarding current litigation the board is facing.
When the board came back into session, no motions or comments were made regarding agenda items b and c listed with the closed session.
Those were Joint Defense Agreement-Discussion/Action and Board of Supervisor letter-legal recommendation-Discussion/Action.
The Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission met directly after the E911 meeting, where they went into closed session regarding litigation.
When they returned into open session, no comments were made about the agenda items Joint Defense Agreement-Discussion/Action and Board of Supervisor letter-legal recommendation-Discussion/Action.
After the meeting, Oskaloosa News asked the Emergency Management Commission Chair Russ Van Renterghem about the closed session and why there was no discussion following the closed session.
Van Renterghem commented that he wouldn’t discuss anything that took place during the closed session.
Van Renterghem did confirm that the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors has filed an additional lawsuit against the E911 Board and the Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission.
That lawsuit is regarding the 2020 agreement between the two boards.
The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors has also asked the Court for summary judgment in their previous lawsuit.
The communication from the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors to the E911/EMA Boards on July 29, 2020, offer regarding the Supervisors injunction motion.
The following is the letter sent by the Supervisors attorney to E911/EMA.
July 29, 2020
Dear Counsel,
I hope you are well. This letter is regarding the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors’ currently pending motion for an injunction in the above-captioned matter. Contrary to certain allegations, the Supervisors have been and remain committed to ensuring 911 service is provided to the county—but it must be done legally. Given the County’s commitment to seamless 911 service, the Supervisors authorized us to make an offer regarding their injunction motion.
Although the Supervisors are confident the political subdivisions have sufficient funds to pay their fair share of 911 services—and indeed should do so—the Supervisors will agree to drop their current request for an injunction and allow the levy at issue to be collected if the 911 Service Board and Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the County for, from, and against any action to recover funds illegally levied under the 911 Service Board/Emergency Management Commission’s 2015 and/or 2020 28E Agreements. This would include any fees and costs, including attorneys’ fees, the County would incur refunding illegally levied and collected taxes. As a condition of that indemnification agreement, the Emergency Management Commission would agree not to use its mandatory levying authority under section 29C.17(2)(a) for the re-payment of any funds as part of any potential future litigation. The Emergency Management Commission has other funding mechanisms available and the Supervisors do not believe there would be any point to an indemnification agreement that would simply result in County still carrying the entire financial burden.
To clarify, the Supervisors are not offering to dismiss their petition, nor are the Supervisors waiving any claims or issues in this matter. If the Defendants truly believe they are correct that the 2020 Agreement and related levy are valid and legal, we trust they will indemnify the Supervisors for any claims to avoid the present issue. If so, the parties can then promptly get these legal issues to the Court for decision.
The Supervisors’ deadline to file a reply brief in support of the injunction motion is Friday July 31, 2020. If your clients need more time to consider this offer, we would ask you grant the Supervisors a proportional extension on their reply deadline. Please let us know by end of business Thursday July 30, 2020 if you will need more time to consider the County’s offer and if you will
agree to an extension.
The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors has then asked for summary judgement on their case, filing on August 24, 2020.
COMES NOW Plaintiff Mahaska County Board of Supervisors, by and through the undersigned counsel, and hereby seeks summary judgment in the above-captioned matter. As more fully explained in Plaintiff’s attached memorandum in support, summary judgment is required because, as a matter of law, the 2020 28E Agreement between Defendants Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission and Mahaska County E911 Service Board is illegal, ultra vires, and void. The 2020 Agreement seeks to continue an unlawful voting scheme and force Plaintiff to solely bear the financial burden of county 911 services in violation of the law and the 911 Service Board’s operating agreement. The 2020 Agreement further unlawfully re-delegates Plaintiff’s authority over its express objection and exceeds the limits of, or contradicts, Iowa Code Chapters 28E, 29C, and 34A. The Court is familiar with these failings, as this matter is an unfortunate sequel to the parties’ prior litigation dealing with these same issues under a similar agreement the Court declared void. Given Defendants’ pattern here, injunctive relief is required to prevent further illegal activity. Therefore Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court grant summary judgment in its favor and (1) declare the 1991 28E Agreement governing the 911 Service Board a valid and enforceable agreement; (2) the 2020 Agreement void; (3) impose injunctive relief; and (4) all other relief the Court finds equitable and required.
The new legal action also filed on August 24, 2020 states:
Defendants Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission (“Emergency Management Commission”) and Mahaska County E911 Service Board (“911 Service Board”) do not like how the law is written. Thus, rather than abide by the Code, Defendants rewrite it through a second Chapter 28E agreement. This Court already declared the first agreement illegal and void in prior litigation. Rather than follow the Court’s ruling, Defendants consummated a new agreement unlawfully delegating the 911 Service Board’s powers to the Emergency Management Commission to preserve an illegal voting scheme and force the County to illegally levy for 911 services contrary to explicit law. Just as before, this cannot stand. Thus, the Court must once again declare the Defendants’ 28E agreement illegal and void.
The 2020 Agreement, like the 2015 Agreement, has multiple failings. The Supervisors seek the Court to declare the 2020 Agreement void and to enjoin Defendants from further illegal action. See Iowa R. Civ. Pro. 1.1101, 1.1102, 1.1501. This case involves contractual and statutory construction, which the Court decides as a matter of law.
No official action has been taken at this point on either of the legal actions.
