A company that has been twice denied a license by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission has asked a judge to block the commission from issuing licenses, alleging violations of the state Open Meetings Act.

Alabama Always LLC filed the motion Tuesday afternoon in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Alabama Always has built a facility for growing and processing medical marijuana in west Montgomery. But the company was not among the 24 awarded licenses by the AMCC on August 10.

Ninety companies applied for licenses to participate in the state’s new industry, authorized by legislation passed in 2021. Alabama Always applied for an integrated license to cultivate, process, and dispense medical marijuana.

In its request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, Alabama Always alleges the AMCC violated the Open Meetings Act by deliberating on its application decisions during an executive session, or closed portion of the August 10 meeting. The commissioners nominated their choices for licenses during their closed portion of the meeting, commission officials said.

The closed portion of the meeting lasted more than three hours. After the meeting reopened, the commission voted on the nominees and awarded licenses.

The Open Meetings Act allows public boards to close their meetings for certain purposes.

“But nowhere in those enumerated purposes appears anything remotely related to taking anonymous votes, ballots, or even ‘nominations,’” lawyers for Alabama Always said in their motion.

“By holding all discussion and deliberation in executive sessions, the Commission has denied, and has publicly stated its intention to continue to deny, Alabama Always and others their rights to observe the deliberations for this licensing process,” attorneys for Alabama Always wrote in their request for a preliminary injunction.

Brittany Peters, director of communications for the AMCC, said the commission was aware of the court filing but that she was unable to comment on it.

The motion filed Tuesday by Alabama Always is the latest move in a lawsuit the company filed against the AMCC in June. That was after the AMCC awarded 21 licenses on June 12, then put those licenses on hold because it had discovered errors in how applicants were scored for the purposes of ranking. Those licenses were never issued. Six other companies that were denied licenses joined the lawsuit. One company that was awarded a license joined the case as a defendant.

The purpose of the August 10 meeting was to award licenses for a second time. The AMCC said the scoring errors had been corrected and verified. Nineteen of the 21 companies that were awarded licenses on June 12 were again awarded licenses. Five additional companies were awarded licenses.

Under the AMCC’s timeline, companies awarded licenses on August 10 have 14 days to pay their license fee. Companies that were denied a license had 14 days to request an investigative hearing before the Commission to seek reconsideration.

AMCC Chairman Rex Vaughn said after the August 10 meeting that medical cannabis products could possibly be available for patients by the end of the year.

Products can include gummies, tablets, capsules, tinctures, patches, oils, and other forms allowed by the legislation.

Patients who receive a medical cannabis card from a doctor will be able to buy the products at licensed dispensaries.

The products can be used to treat a wide range of conditions, including chronic pain, weight loss and nausea from cancer, depression, panic disorder, epilepsy, muscle spasms caused by disease or spinal cord injuries, PTSD, and others.

Alabama is one of 38 states that have approved medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.