December 5, 2016
The Ledger’s John Chambliss
BARTOW — The State Attorney’s Office said Monday that two school board members will not face charges over emailing each other about a Dec. 13 meeting.
Newly elected board member Billy Townsend and Chair Kay Fields had an email exchange about the timing of a meeting to discuss School Board Attorney Wes Bridges’ future.
“After a review of the email exchange, the apparent purpose of the emails was Mr. Townsend’s desire to arrange for public comment on an issue coming before the school board in the near future,” wrote State Attorney’s Office investigator Beverly Cone. “The discussion was purely procedural as there was no substantive discussion of the issue itself.”
“I find that neither Townsend, nor Fields, had any intent to violate Florida Statute 286.011 (Sunshine Law),” Cone wrote.