LISBON — The United Local school board joined the growing list of Columbiana County entities being accused by Mogadore resident Brian Ames of alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act.

Ames filed the complaint against United Local on Wednesday, just one day after filing a similar lawsuit against Wellsville school board and two days after filing a complaint against Columbiana school board, all accused of numerous violations related to how they conduct their meetings.

Ames is seeking payment of $500 for each alleged violation and he’s filed similar lawsuits throughout the state against various governmental entities over what he perceives as violations of the Open Meetings Act, with several cases in the Ohio Supreme Court.

In the case against the United Local school board, the counts include failure to state a specific approved matter or purpose for holding an executive session, exceeding the published purpose of a special meeting and failure to keep full or accurate minutes. Each count included multiple dates when he alleged violations took place.

Besides the $500 payment for each violation, Ames asked the court to require the school board to maintain full and accurate minutes of all meetings and to no longer violate the rules for special meetings, specifically not discussing matters that were not advertised as the purpose for a special meeting.

The case was assigned to Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam, who’s handling the majority of the complaints related to Ames.

Other entities Ames filed complaints against that remain pending in Common Pleas Court include Wellsville, Columbiana, East Liverpool and Crestview school boards and Columbiana City Council. Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton is handling the Crestview school board case.

A similar lawsuit was filed against the Columbiana County Board of Elections in 2022 which ended last year with a $3,500 settlement paid to Open Government Advocates, a non-profit in the care of Ames.

At the time of the settlement with the county Board of Elections, Board of Elections Chairman David Johnson called the complaint a nuisance lawsuit and indicated fighting the claim would have cost the board more money. The lawsuit claimed that the board failed to establish a rule for notification of its meetings during its organizational meeting in March 2021 and did not provide notice of the meetings that properly reached the general public, which Johnson and board members said was not the case.