Labrador Dismisses Open Meetings Lawsuit Over Phoenix Negotiations

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on June 18, 2025

BOISE, ID – A longstanding open meetings battle between Attorney General Raúl Labrador and the State Board of Education came to a close Wednesday.

Labrador moved to dismiss his lawsuit challenging the State Board’s closed-door meetings on the University of Idaho’s bid to acquire the University of Phoenix.

The lawsuit, filed two years ago this week, contended that the State Board had essentially approved the U of I’s plans in a series of three closed executive sessions — before finally giving the $685 million purchase the green light in open session in May 2023.

“This case was never about the merits of any particular transaction, but about ensuring government remains open and transparent for all Idahoans,” Labrador said Wednesday. “The (open meeting) law reflects the principle that government accountability depends on public access to decision-making processes, particularly for transactions of significant scope and financial impact.”

The State Board declined comment on the dismissal.

The open meetings lawsuit — and the U of I’s aborted Phoenix bid — have been intertwined since June 2023, in a series of twists and turns.

The lawsuit started in Ada County District Court, with a decisive ruling in the State Board’s favor. In January 2024, District Judge Jason Scott threw out Labrador’s lawsuit and said the State Board’s closed meetings were permitted under the law. State Board members “reasonably believed” the U of I was in competition with other Phoenix suitors, Scott ruled, and this justified the closed meetings.

Labrador prevailed on appeal. In December, the state Supreme Court said the lower court had “erred in several ways,” and kicked the case backed to Scott’s court. The Supreme Court did not determine whether the State Board had broken open meetings law: Instead, the court ordered Scott to revisit his earlier ruling.

Until Wednesday, the case was still on Scott’s docket. A “status conference,” a discussion between the two legal teams, had been scheduled for next week.

While the protracted lawsuit focused on open meetings law, it had a tangible impact on the U of I’s bid for Phoenix, a for-profit university serving more than 80,000 students nationally.

With the purchase mired in court, the U of I was unable to line up financing. This essentially stopped the transaction in its tracks.

The legal questions also resonated with legislators, who had felt blindsided by the State Board and the U of I. The 2024 Legislature pushed back against the purchase, forcing the U of I and Phoenix to start over. The State Board gave the universities another year ­ — an extension to allow them to bring a new plan to lawmakers — but nothing materialized.

In early June, with another State Board deadline looming, the U of I and Phoenix agreed to break off all talks. This joint decision closed the books on a purchase, but not the lawsuit.

With the dismissal, the two sides have agreed to cover their own legal bills. In March 2024, Scott had ordered Labrador’s office to pay more than $240,000 in State Board legal fees — but the Supreme Court’s subsequent ruling left the issue of legal fees in question.

Both parties have agreed to cover their costs, according to a court filing Wednesday.