At the county board’s meeting on Tuesday, October 18, board chair Heidi Doo- Kirk reminded her fellow commissioners to schedule their county business appointments and meetings through the county administrator to avoid conflict of having too many commissioners showing up at the same event, which could result in an open meeting violation.
Back in the day, said Doo- Kirk, her grandmother told her the wives of the county commissioners—who were all male—would meet with their husbands for lunch once the commissioners’ meeting was over, an overt and obvious violation of the Open Meeting Law.
Those days are over, Doo- Kirk said.
The Open Meeting Law in Minnesota divides meetings into three types: regular meetings, special meetings, and emergency meetings. Every public body is required to provide members of the public with notice of its meetings, regardless of the type of meeting. The same notice requirements that apply for any type of closed meeting would apply for the same type of open meeting.
Minnesota statutes also cover the open meeting rule as it applies to meetings conducted by telephone, interactive television and other electronic means, but the rules below spell out how public bodies should conduct business in the most transparent way possible. The following was taken from the state’s website. If you belong to a public board, you might want to clip and save this information. How must a public body give notice for a regular meeting that is either open or closed? . The only notice requirement for a regular meeting is to have a schedule of the public body’s regular meetings kept on file at its primary offices. . If the date, time, and/ or place of regular meeting changes, special meeting notice requirements apply. . Additional notice is not required when all or part of a regular meeting will be closed. The only required notice is the established schedule of regular meetings. What is a special meeting? . A special meeting is any meeting, other than an emergency meeting, that is not a regularly scheduled meeting. How must a public body give notice for a special meeting that is either open or closed? . Three days before a special meeting, a public body must post written notice on its principal bulletin board or usual meeting room door. . The posted notice must include the date, time, and place of the special meeting. The notice must also include the purpose of the meeting, so that what can be discussed or decided at the meeting is limited to that purpose. The purpose should include all topics that will be discussed and/or acted upon at the special meeting. What is required when a person requests notice of open or closed special meetings? . Not only must a public body post notice of a special meeting, it must also mail or otherwise deliver notice, at least three days before the meeting, to any person who has made a written request for a personal notice of special meetings. As an alternative to mailing or delivering the notice to requestors, the public body may publish the notice in its official newspaper or a qualified newspaper of general circulation in the area. . The personal notice to requestors must include the date, time, place, and purpose of the meeting. Can a person limit his/ her request for notice of open or closed special meetings? . A request for notice of a special meeting may be limited so that a person only receives notice of meetings about particular subjects. This gives members of the public the option to attend only those meetings where a topic of interest or concern will be discussed. What is an emergency meeting? . An emergency meeting is a special meeting called because of circumstances that require immediate consideration by the public body. . Although “emergency” is not defined, the Commissioner of Administration in Advisory Opinion 04-004 said that an emergency meeting is one where circumstances will not permit the public body to wait three days to give notice of a special meeting. These circumstances may include dealing with the aftermath of a natural disaster such as a tornado, flood, or blizzard. How must a public body give notice for an emergency meeting that is either open or closed? . Notice of the emergency meeting must be given to members of the public body and a good faith effort must be made to notify each news medium that has filed a written request for notice, if the request includes a telephone number. Notice to the media should be made as soon as reasonably practicable after members of the public body are notified. . The notice requirements for an emergency meeting differ from a special meeting because of the urgency of the situation. . Posted or published notice is not required.
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