Ward County adopts public comment policy setting speaker rules

The Ward County Commission approved a Public Comment Policy at its July 1 meeting after a presentation by State's Attorney Roza Larson. The commission added three provisions before approval: the board will afford each speaker five minutes; the board may extend a speaker's time by motion and vote; and there will be no overall time limit for public comment as a whole, although the chairman reserves the right to close the comment period. The motion to approve the policy with those additions was moved by Commissioner Schuler, seconded by Commissioner Merritt, and passed by roll call with Commissioners Rostad, Merritt, Olson, Schuler and Chair Fjeldahl voting yes. The minutes do not provide text of the adopted policy beyond these procedural elements.