The Fayette County Board of Education violated Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act with incorrect notice of a closed session that resulted in the superintendent being placed on paid leave in June, though the disciplinary action was legal, Attorney General Coleman’s office announced Wednesday.
During a special-called meeting June 10, the board entered closed session, only to return and remove Fayette County Public Schools’ Superintendent Demetrus Liggins from the district’s top post. The school board also appointed Assistant Superintendent Bill Bradford as interim. The attorney general’s opinion did not void these actions.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The June 10 meeting followed months of financial turmoil at the district, including a budget shortfall, layoffs and the discovery of nearly two decades of mismanagement. Liggins filed the open meetings violation complaint with the attorney general’s office in mid-June and also registered a whistleblower retaliation complaint to the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability.
Coleman’s opinion states the board violated the Open Meeting Act “when it entered closed session without first providing sufficient explanation in open session.” Another state regulation permits the conversations that were had in the closed session.
In response to the attorney general’s opinion, the school board said in a statement the act of placing Liggins on leave itself was legal.
"In a decision issued today, the Attorney General upheld the Board’s use of closed session at its June 10, 2026 special meeting held to address matters concerning Dr. Liggins. Specifically, the Attorney General held ‘that the closed session was justified by KRS 61.810(1)(f)’ and further that the Board ‘did not violate the Act by reaching a consensus during its closed session,’" the statement reads. “While the Attorney General did not agree with the wording of the notice the Board gave before it entered closed session, the Board is pleased the Attorney General upheld the Board’s use of closed session. The Board is also pleased the Attorney General declined the request to void the Board’s actions."
Amos Jones is the attorney for Liggins. He said they were “grateful” for the AG’s acknowledgement that the law had been violated and there’s a pattern of the board being wrong.
“Dr. Liggins operates lawfully, and he's been right all along,” Jones said. “It's time for the board, which is on a losing streak, to think about conciliation because there's still yet more damning exposure we anticipate from the Kentucky Office of Educational Accountability.”
The opinion states public bodies, like the school board, must explain generally what business can and will be discussed in a closed session. A board must also provide more information than simply stating the closed session is related to personnel matters, the opinion notes.
The school board’s violation is a result of not specifying if their closed session would likely result in some sort of personnel action, Coleman’s office found.
However, because the discussion included potential disciplinary action, the topics of the closed session were not in violation of the law. The opinion also states the board did not violate laws by reaching a consensus in the closed session since that action was later voted on in open session. All five board members voted in support of placing Liggins on leaving and naming Bradford as the acting superintendent in the June meeting.
The opinion states the attorney general’s office “lacks the jurisdiction” to void the decisions reached by the board in the June 10 meeting.
Jones said Liggins is still interested in reversing the decisions made at the special called meeting and the Fayette County Circuit Court may be the next step.
