Production of records still an issue in LCHS lawsuit

Despite orders from a Le Sueur County judge and a retired, court-ordered judge, the Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS), has not turned over all its records.

A motion was filed on February 8, 2019, to have Le Sueur County Judge Mark Vandelist address the many missing documents and hear reasons why they haven’t been produced.

According to the motion, the plaintiffs’ attorneys want Vandelist to order the society to comply with his orders issued on November 8, 2018. Spreadsheets, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, accounting records, and bank and loan statements are among the many items the plaintiffs are pushing to see.

“The Defendant (LCHS) has failed to produce any of the following which were expected: Board of Director meeting minutes, Member Meeting minutes, Board resolutions, Annual Reports, tax filings, any contracts, any records concerning real estate, human resources/employee/contractor information, corporate governing documents, correspondence or internal communications (including letters, emails, text messages, etc.), or insurance information,” the motion states. “The Defendant has not produced ‘all financial records of the organization, including but not limited to all bank statements, ledgers, property holdings, information on assets, financial reports information on liabilities, etc.’ There are none of the records that the court specifically itemized in its order.”

The only documents the society has turned over, according to the motion, are membership lists from 2013 to 2018 (with the exception of 2016), depositions from the lawsuit and some meeting minutes. It was also noted that four years of submitted membership materials were not complete.

Other documents LCHS has included are copies of what are believed to be checks that were illegible.

In his response filed in court this week, LCHS’s attorney Ray Konz argued that only recently was a deadline set for the production of undefined financial records.

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