When Yavapai College District Governing Board representative Toby Payne [District 3] asked Chairwoman Deb McCasland [District 2] where the attorneys were during the April 21 meeting, McCasland said, “She’s not here.”
McCasland declined to tell her colleagues at the meeting that she had unilaterally fired the two board attorneys that morning.
“Board members — As Governing Board counsel, I am writing to share my advice to Chair McCasland regarding the agenda for next Tuesday’s board meeting,” attorney Lynne Adams wrote in an email to the board prior to the meeting. “Chair McCasland has advised me that she will not be revising the agenda. Neither Sarah [Lawson, the other attorney] nor I can force her to comply with board policy, although we have advised her to comply with the policy.”
On Thursday, April 23, Adams sent another email to the board: “Board members — I am writing to follow up on our email to each of you on Tuesday, because a few board members have reached out to inquire about that email. On Tuesday morning, we received an email from the board chair terminating our representation. We then communicated with each of you about the conclusion of our representation.”
Following the March 31 meeting at which the board voted to hold an election for a new board chairMeeting Law Complaint Form to the Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ Office on April 3.
McCasland misspelled member Bill Kiel’s name throughout the complaint, writing “During the meeting William Keil, Yavapai College District Governing Board District 1 Representative asked a question related to an upcoming agenda item for board decision (Board Policy Change 304, Agenda Item 3(c)(v)) that he had sent by email to all of the board members. Mr. Keil was advised by the Yavapai College District Governing Board attorney [Lawson] and the Executive Director of the Arizona Community College Foundation [David Borofsky, Ed.D.] that the action was an open meeting law violation of the current Board Meeting.”
Lawson received a letter from Mayes’office on April 8 requesting documentation and a response addressing the allegations in the complaint.
McCasland listed board members Payne, Kiel, Patrick Kuykendall [District 4] and Steve Bracety [District 5] in the complaint.
She alleges the specific violations happened between Feb. 24 and March 31, but stated “I believe the violation of conducting board business via email, text message and personal conversations occurred at all board meetings held in 2025 and 2026.”
She provided no evidence of such in her complaint.
The deadline for legal response to the complaint is May 8, Adams wrote in a Thursday, April 23, email to board members.
“We will, of course, work with new governing board counsel to transfer our file materials related to the letter of investigation,” Adams wrote.
