AGO 97011.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1997. AGO 97011. DATE: February 14, 1997SUBJECT: Interlocal Cooperation Act; Membership and Authority of Joint Legal EntitiesREQUESTED BY: John Breslow, Auditor of Public AccountsWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Fredrick F. Neid, Assistant Attorney General You have requested the opinion of the Attorney General regarding membership and authority of legal entities created under the provisions of the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-801 to 13-827 (1991 and Cum. Supp. 1996) ("Act"). It is briefly related that a joint legal entity, the Custer County Development Board ("Board"), was recently formed under the Act and that "members" of the Board at various times have included both a "for profit" group and a "non-profit" group as an "at-large" member. Reportedly, the Board is the recipient of a grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development "to set up 11 community councils in Custer County." You further relate that Custer County is not a "member of CCDB as of the date of this grant" and that only five municipalities were members at the time of the grant application, in April of 1996. It is in the context of these facts that we respond to your questions. It is FIRST inquired: [M]ay a joint entity created in accordance with Nebraska R.R.S. Section 13-804 have "members" who are not "public agency's" as defined by Nebraska R.R.S. Section 13-803? Yes. We believe a legal entity formed under the Act may have members that are not public agencies as that term is defined for purposes of the Act. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-804 (Cum. Supp. 1996) authorizes any two or more public agencies to enter into agreements with one another pursuant to the Act. The term, "public agency", is defined in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-803(2) (Cum. Supp. 1996) to mean any county, city, village, school district, or agency of state government or of the United States, any drainage district, sanitary and improvement district, or other municipal corporation, or political subdivision of this state and any political subdivision of another state. The express language of section 13-803 does not include private entities or groups with the definition of the term, public agency. Under the maxim, expressio unius est exclusio alterius, a statute which enumerates the things on which it is to operate excludes all those...