Special board meeting called to address ballot shredding, not subpoena, Kelstrom says

A special Shasta County Board meeting scheduled for this afternoon was cancelled early this morning. 

An announcement of the special meeting posted on the county website Friday noted only that it was related to anticipated litigation, without explaining what the litigation might relate to. Reporting Friday indicated that the meeting may have been called to address a legal threat against the county from Shasta Scout, related to a federal subpoena. But Shasta County Board Chair Chris Kelstrom dispelled that idea today by text.

Kelstrom said the special board meeting was actually called to address concerns about Shasta Elections official Clint Curtis having failed to shred 2024 ballots by the legal deadline. Curtis took action to ensure the shredding of those ballots on Saturday. That made today’s special board meeting moot, Kelstrom wrote, leading to the cancellation.

Shasta County has not responded to Shasta Scout’s legal threat sent Friday regarding a public records request for a federal subpoena Curtis received last month. The county has refused to release the subpoena, arguing that federal law prohibits releasing information related to grand jury proceedings.

The First Amendment Coalition, which is representing Shasta Scout, has issued a legal demand stating that the federal rule does not appear to apply in this case and giving the county through Oct. 7, to release the subpoena or face a potential lawsuit. 

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