In a unanimous decision, the state's high court sided with a community newspaper in its lawsuit against the village of Bratenahl's council after the board used a secret ballot to elect a president pro tempore.

Patricia Meade, publisher of community newspaper MORE bratenahl, argued the village council's January 2015 meeting violated the Open Meetings Act with the secret ballot vote at a public meeting. Meade sued for an injunction to prevent the village from holding any future secret ballot votes, as well as a $500 civil forfeiture and attorney fees.

Initially, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court ruled for the village, but Meade appealed the decision. The Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling and then Meade appealed that decision to the state supreme court.

The council eventually made the vote public, showing how each member voted.

Justice R. Patrick DeWine rejected the council's position that it could vote by secret ballot during a meeting that was open to the public.

"The act is not satisfied simply because the doors of a council meeting are open to the public," DeWine wrote. "Rather, an open meeting requires that the public have meaningful access to the deliberations that take place among members of the public body, and that includes being able to determine how participants vote," he said.

The case has been remanded to the common pleas court to enforce the injunction against future secret ballots and pay Meade the $500.