Wichita ? A Wichita City Council vote taken in an office suite after a closed session has prompted a request for an inquiry by the attorney general.

Former state Rep. Henry Helgerson said he contacted Atty. Gen. Phill Kline’s office to ask for an investigation into an April 1 vote to approve a new contract for City Manager Chris Cherches. The vote took place after a closed session.

Sedgwick County Dist. Atty. Nola Foulston has said the council probably violated the open meetings law because it did not provide the required notice of the place where the public meeting would resume after the closed session.

Mayor Carlos Mayans said he planned to discontinue the council’s practice of taking votes immediately after closed sessions, when most of the public and media have left. Instead, he said he would schedule the votes to take place in public sessions during the following week’s meeting.

The April 1 vote created a new provision in Cherches’ contract to provide him with six months salary, about $75,500, if he is fired by the council.

The vote took place on Election Day, the last chance outgoing members had to take action before three new members of the seven-member council would be seated.