The Maries County Commission was found not to be purposely in violation of the open meetings law and the court determined that Ronald and Anne Calzone’s motion of preliminary injunction was denied.

On Monday, Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony “Tony” Skouby said Circuit Court Judge John Beger determined to deny the motion stating the governor’s order in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic was good cause for deviating from normal practices and the court could not find by preponderance of the evidence that the Maries County Commission’s action on April 6, 2020, were either knowingly or purposefully in violation of the open meetings law. There was no evidence from which the court could conclude the defendants would violate Chapter 610 in the future so that injunctive relief is not warranted.

Skouby said, “All in all the boys did good,” about the actions taken by the county commissioners in response to keeping people safe because of the virus.

This included closing the courthouse to the public but inviting the newspapers to listen in to all of the commission’s public meetings. They did the best they could in a bad situation. Skouby said the county commissioners are very prepared to handle it in the future.

The hearing on Calzone’s petition to undo everything the county commissioners did while the courthouse was closed to the public will have to be rescheduled.