Washington State’s Redistricting Commission To Pay Fines And Legal Costs To Settle Lawsuits

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – Washington’s redistricting commission will pay fines and legal costs of more than $137,000 to settle two lawsuits filed by government transparency watchdogs after last year’s redistricting talks ended in a display of chaos and deception.

The redistricting commission’s four members and nonpartisan chair will each pay $500 fines and undergo training in the open-meetings law.

The Seattle Times reports the commission also agreed to pay $120,000 to cover the legal costs of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and another $15,000 for the legal costs of transparency activist Arthur West.

Under a proposed consent decree announced Wednesday, the Commission also admitted that its members violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act