[LNP | LancasterOnline] Local advocate wins narrowly in Sunshine Act suit against Lancaster County commissioners

Ron Harper, Jr. stands outside a political rally at Columbia High School, April 30, 2018.
[Columbia Spy file photo]

A judge has ruled that the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners violated Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act when it failed to fully identify public commenters and the subject of their remarks in published minutes describing three public meetings last year. 

The ruling, filed Aug. 29, followed a 15-month legal battle in which the plaintiff, Ron Harper Jr., represented himself in court. Harper's victory was narrow, in that county court Judge John Kuhn ruled in his favor on only one of several claims in his suit.

The judge ordered the commissioners to change minutes from 2023 meetings held April 26, May 3 and May 24. Harper successfully argued that three commenters who spoke at those meetings did not have their names and remarks adequately described in published minutes as required under the Sunshine Act. Harper was not one of the commenters referenced in those meetings.

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https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/local-advocate-wins-narrowly-in-sunshine-act-suit-against-lancaster-county-commissioners/article_72b5b9d6-6edd-11ef-b941-d7826245722b.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share