Page 31 - Jodi Smith News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Pitkin County commissioners on Tuesday approved $1.3 million in short-term fixes for the county jail to make it safer for inmates and employees. The fixes, however, will more than likely not be incorporated into long-term plans for the Pitkin County Jail, which officials have said needs to be completely gutted and re-designed or rebuilt elsewhere. “I hold out little hope that we can incorporate this fix into a new design,” said Board Chairwoman Kelly McNicholas Kury, who told her colleagues she’d been reading up on new jail designs and realized the current facility is very dated. Pitkin...

North Dakota government boards consider tighter media policies, raising concerns about transparency Members of the Board of University and School Lands and the State Investment Board have recently proposed new policies on their interactions with the news media. Some members have prioritized a unified board message, but advocates for public access said they hope the discussions aren't indicative of a trend. Written By: Adam Willis | × North Dakota Land Commissioner Jodi Smith listens during a Land Board meeting in March 2019. Forum News Service file photo BISMARCK ...

Members of the Board of University and School Lands and the State Investment Board have recently proposed new policies on their interactions with the news media. Some members have prioritized a unified board message, but advocates for public access said they hope the discussions aren't indicative of a trend.

The bill, which will go on the law books in August, also retroactively establishes a seven-year statute of limitations for state collections of royalty payments, meaning the Department of Trust Lands can't require companies to pony up on outstanding royalty bills from before August 2013. Land Commissioner Jodi Smith estimates the new cutoff date will prevent the department from collecting about $70 million in unpaid royalties.

It was a discussion as remarkable for its content — state officials openly talking about how to be less candid with the public — as the people involved in it.