The Sandpoint City Council voted Wednesday to release a third‑party legal opinion about the expiration of the city’s legal services agreement with Lake City Law and then approved convening an executive session under Idaho law to consider personnel evaluation and potential litigation.

Council President Deb Rule presided over the special meeting called at 5:30 p.m. at Sandpoint City Hall. Councilors present included Joe Sparrow, Justin [last name redacted], Kyle Schreiber, Pam Ducat and Rick Howarth; Mayor Stephen Grimm was absent and Police Chief Corey [last name redacted] served as sergeant‑at‑arms.

The council approved a motion to release a legal opinion prepared by Susan Weeks of the law firm James, Vernon & Weeks concerning the October 1–8 period referenced in the city’s review. The motion passed on a roll‑call vote; councilors present voted in favor and the motion passed.

City Attorney Jovic told the council that attorney–client privileged communications are ordinarily confidential and cannot be released absent an affirmative vote of the entity that holds the privilege. “Attorney‑client privileged communications, which this is, are held in confidence,” Jovic said, explaining that when the client is an entity such as the city, the governing body must vote to authorize release.

Several council members said they supported public release for the sake of transparency. Councilman Shriver said, “I just wanted to thank everybody for considering this. I think the release of this document is gonna go a long way to give transparency to the public about what transpired and how we came to the decision that we came to.” Council President Deb Rule also said she agreed that “transparency is the utmost importance.”

Councilor Rick Howarth asked whether other legal opinions in the record should also be released. Howarth asked why the council would release only the James, Vernon & Weeks opinion and not all opinions related to the matter. City Attorney Jovic said one previously issued opinion by Mr. Harrington had already been released by the mayor, and advised that the council may place a separate item on a future agenda to consider releasing any other documents if members believe those documents are not privileged or if the council votes to waive privilege.

After the release vote, the council voted to convene an executive session pursuant to Idaho law to consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of a public officer, employee or agent and to consult with counsel regarding legal options for anticipated litigation. The motion to enter executive session was made and seconded and passed on a roll‑call vote. The presiding officer asked nonparticipating attendees to leave the room and the public recording was stopped before the executive session.

No substantive deliberations from the executive session were disclosed at the public meeting. The council did not announce further public actions or timelines related to the executive session before adjourning the public portion of the meeting.

Details not specified at the meeting include the names of the council members who formally moved and seconded each motion on the record, and specific dates for any future public‑agenda items about release of additional legal documents.