Charges of open-meetings law violations will be dropped against the chairman and two supervisors of the town of Marcellon if all three comply with the Wisconsin open-meetings law through November.

A plea agreement reached in May between Town Chairman Neal James and Supervisors Helen Rawson and Richard Breneman holds the case open for six months without a finding.

Richard Dufour, the Marquette County District Attorney - who was tapped to prosecute the case due to a potential conflict of interest in the Columbia County district attorney's office - said a plea agreement entailed immediate dismissal of two of the three allegations, and dismissal of the third charge if James, Breneman and Rawson meet certain conditions.

The main condition: They are not to violate the state's open-meetings law in any way for six months from the May 11 date of the agreement.

All three also are required to attend an educational session on the state's open meetings and open records laws. The state attorney general's office is one entity that offers such education, Dufour said.

"If they don't do these things," he said, "then we're back in court."

Rawson and James could not be reached for comment. Breneman referred all inquiries to Douglas Kammer, the Portage attorney who represented all three defendants. Kammer was out of town and unavailable for comment.

In October 2008, Dufour said, he was presented with numerous allegations of open meetings violations by the town of Marcellon board, three of which were pursued:

• A meeting on Oct. 8, 2007, when James was accused of inviting officials of Northeast Asphalt Inc. to discuss a conditional use permit, even though the issue was not on the agenda.

• A March 10, 2008, meeting, in which the board was accused of discussing whether the board's meeting minutes should include the substance of public comments, or whether the minutes should merely note comments were made - a matter that was not on the agenda.

• A meeting on July 14, 2008, which a resident said was an illegal meeting because the original meeting notice did not include the time of the meeting. When the notice was amended to include the 7:30 p.m. meeting time, the complaint said, it included additional items for discussion that were discussed at the meeting, even though they were not on the agenda 24 hours in advance.

Dufour said he did not know which two of the charges were dismissed and which one was held open.

The case is a "complex forfeiture" - a civil matter that, under Wisconsin law, could result in a fine of as much as $300 per violation.

In June 2008, Rawson and Breneman both survived recall election challenges, with Rawson defeating Susan Winter and Breneman defeating Rodney Maginnis to keep their seats.

In April, all three ran unopposed for re-election and retained their seats. James received 185 votes, and 16 write-in votes were cast. In the supervisors' race, Rawson got 162 votes, Breneman got 147 and 79 write-in votes were cast.

Neal, Rawson and Breneman were scheduled to go to trial in early June in Columbia County Circuit Court. Judge James Miller presided over the case and signed the agreement to leave the case open for six months.

ljerde@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3587