CLEVES, Ohio — A Hamilton County resident has won a lawsuit against the Village of Cleves for violating Ohio's Open Meetings Act, but the legal battle isn't over yet.
Kyle Smith successfully sued the village, arguing they improperly held a closed executive session during an August 2025 meeting. The court ruled in Smith's favor and ordered the village to limit future executive sessions to those specifically outlined by state law.
Ohio's open meetings law requires government bodies to conduct public business in meetings open to the public, with limited exceptions for executive sessions on specific matters.
"I think it's ignorance more than malice," Smith said. "When working for us, they have to do things the right way. They can't break the law."
The court's ruling requires the Village of Cleves to "limit any meetings of the Cleves Village Council in executive session" to those permitted under Ohio law, which include pending litigation, negotiations, some personnel matters, and other specific exceptions.
However, Mayor Birkholtz said the village plans to appeal the decision.
"It ain't over until it's over," Birkholtz said. "So I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty the Village of Cleves does not accept the final decision by Judge Winkler; we're not going to criticize that decision."
This case isn't over. Here's how the village is responding:
The mayor defended the village's transparency practices, noting that meetings are recorded and televised.
"Everything we do is videotaped, televised; that particular meeting was also," Birkholtz said. "We send out notices via email to our registered email people who regularly get an email every week."
This marks another transparency issue for Cleves. The village has faced multiple lawsuits for violating open meetings rules, and even Mayor Birkholtz has filed complaints against the council in the past.
WCPO asked about the mayor's own legal efforts as it concerns alleged violations of Ohio's Open Meetings Act. He said the lawsuit he brought against the village was different.
"If you're going back to the 2020 lawsuit, there's a lot between the two," Birkholtz said. "Number one, we didn't go into executive session and make any decisions. That's not true in 2020; there were decisions made."
For Smith, the case represents a broader principle of government accountability.
"All politicians should be held accountable. It doesn't matter if it's your local government, the city government, the federal government," Smith said. "These people work for us. We pay their salary."
Smith encouraged other residents to stay engaged with the local government.
"I just want people out there to know. You're the one who is in power," he said. "This is our government, and it's run for us by us!"
