Topeka ? A judge Thursday said he would decide within 10 days whether Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius violated state law by closing to the public meetings of task forces that reviewed state spending and governmental functions.

But Kansas University professor Ted Frederickson, who has been a longtime advocate of open government, says even if Sebelius is within her rights under state law to conduct the secret meetings “she is most definitely wrong on the spirit of the law.”

And Frederickson also criticized Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall for deciding to throw the weight of state government behind Sebelius and provide her legal representation.

“If anybody ought to be looking out for the people’s right to know what the government is doing, it should be the top law enforcement officer of the state,” Frederickson said.

The question of why the Attorney General’s Office was representing Sebelius came up in the hearing before Shawnee County District Judge Eric Rosen.

Assistant Atty. Gen. Steve Phillips said Sebelius was allowed to keep the meetings secret, in part, because she was not officially governor yet and that meant her transitional office overseeing the meetings was not really a state agency governed by the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

Rosen asked why the state attorney general was defending Sebelius, if the transition office wasn’t a state agency. Phillips said the Attorney General’s Office did it out of a sense of fairness to Sebelius and as part of a policy to encourage people to serve in state government without fear of lawsuits.

Thursday’s hearing was brought on by a challenge from Kansas news organizations, including the Lawrence Journal-World.

Shawnee County District Judge Eric Rosen questions Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius' attorney, Assistant Atty. Gen. Steve Phillips, about the use of letterhead, which carries the official state seal, by the transition team. Members of the Kansas media are suing Sebelius over alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act, which they say requires her top-to-bottom government review to be conducted in the open.

During her campaign for governor, Sebelius promised a “top-to-bottom” review of government, saying any question about taxes and budget cuts couldn’t be addressed until the completion of that review. The state is mired in its worst fiscal crisis in modern history, facing an estimated $800 million revenue shortfall out of a $4.4 billion budget.

Review of government

After winning election last month, Sebelius named five Budget Efficiency Savings Teams (BEST) and appointed 60 Kansans to the teams. The groups immediately began meeting secretly, prompting the challenge from the media.

Sebelius contended the teams would have more candid brainstorming discussions without the media present.

“Forcing them to do this while tape recorders are whirring and reporters are scribbling would make their work harder, and less effective,” Sebelius said in a prepared statement released Thursday.

But Mike Merriam, an attorney representing the media, questioned how allowing people to make statements in secret would lead to good public policy.

¢See past stories and video reports about the lawsuit and the Sebelius transition

“The notion that you promote candid and free debate by having it closed just isn’t true,” he said.

Merriam also discounted the argument that Sebelius’ transition office was not a state agency.

“They’re spending state money, using state resources and have an office in the Capitol. So it’s an agency,” he said.

Sebelius’ policy chief Jeremy Anderson said about 18 BEST meetings were conducted, including the last closed meeting that was occurring during the judicial hearing.

Anderson said the BEST team leaders would meet with Sebelius and Sebelius would decide what areas to focus on after she was inaugurated Jan. 13. From that point on, the meetings will be open to the public, he said.

Ruling sought

Despite the end of the closed meetings, Merriam said he still wanted a judicial order on the matter to determine whether the past meetings were held illegally, prevent any possible future meetings from being held in secret and to provide direction to state officials on what kind of meetings can be closed and which ones must be opened to the public.

Jeff Burkhead, executive director of the Kansas Press Assn., and Cliff Schiappa, assistant bureau chief of The Associated Press in Kansas and Missouri, both testified that news reporters should be allowed to attend the meetings so they could inform the public about what was being discussed. A better informed public leads to better government, they argued.

Topeka lawyer Mike Merriam, right, and Kansas Press Assn. president Jeff Burkhead look in a statute book during a hearing in Topeka. Merriam has filed a suit on behalf of the Kansas media against Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius alleging that her Budget Efficiency Savings Teams are meeting in violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. Burkhead testified at Thursday's hearing.

KU’s Frederickson agreed, saying the discussions of the BEST teams are crucial to the public.

“The public just elected her governor, and she is holding meetings on where the money could be cut, and this will involve service cuts. The meetings ought to be open,” he said.