Barry County Commissioners spent much of their Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting Tuesday discussing proposed changes to the Board rules concerning  Public Comment and Open Meetings. Currently, public comment is limited to 3 minutes per individual at designated times, except where extended privileges are granted by the Board Chairperson.

The proposed changes would further require each individual to direct their comments to the Board Chair, and would allow the Chairperson to call to order any person the Chair deems to be behaving in a disorderly, threatening, disruptive, intimidating, disrespectful, harassing, or vulgar manor or for failing to be germaine, for exceeding the time limit, or otherwise disturbing the peace and good order of proceedings of the Board. The rules change would allow the Chairperson to have that individual removed from the room if they refuse to come to order.

Eventually, the Committee decided not to advance the proposed changes at this time while they review legal opinions, and tabled the matter until the next COW meeting in April.