[WEBINAR] Who Does What? Defining Proper Roles for Staff and Elected Officials
The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued its seventh binding opinion of the year, finding a Village Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by taking improper action to authorize the purchase of a...more
Public bodies rejoiced over the Ohio Supreme Court’s opinion in State of Ohio ex rel. Christopher Hicks v. Clermont County Board of Commissioners this past holiday season. The largely contentious case drew statewide attention...more
The Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) requires Ohio’s public entities to conduct all deliberations and make all decisions in meetings that are open to the public. However, a public body can meet in executive session to discuss...more
In Houston Community College System v. Wilson, the United States Supreme Court held that a public body’s verbal censure of a fellow board member did not violate the board member’s First Amendment rights. The censure followed...more
On February 4, 2022, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel opined that the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA") requires public bodies to afford an individual with a disability a reasonable accommodation to participate...more
On September 2, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation (S.50001/A.40001), which includes a number of statutory protections and other emergency public health measures adopted in response to the recent increase in the...more
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 16, 2020, at the Attorney General’s request, Governor Greg Abbott utilized Section 418.016 of the Government Code to suspend certain requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act...more
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of public entities had to continue. Amended Substitute House Bill 197 made that possible, by modifying the requirements of R.C. 121.22 to permit public bodies to meet by...more
The concept of a virtual public meeting arose out of necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pursuant to Amended Substitute House Bill 197, Ohio’s General Assembly authorized emergency relief to the Open Meetings Act...more
On Friday, June 25, 2021, Governor Pritzker extended the Disaster Declaration related to COVID-19 for another 30 days. Pursuant to the declaration, public bodies may continue to hold virtual meetings in accordance with the...more
PRE-DECISIONAL & DELIBERATIVE PROCESS UPDATES U.S. - SUPREME COURT DECISION - On March 4, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in United States Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club addressing the “deliberative...more
On March 30, 2021, the authority for Michigan public bodies to hold electronic "virtual" meetings for any reason under the Michigan Open Meetings Act ("OMA") expired. Thus, starting on March 31, 2021, and continuing until...more
On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, the Michigan Legislature adopted amendments to the Open Meetings Act (the "OMA"), which would have immediate effect upon signature by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Senate Bill 1108...more
In its fourth binding opinion of 2020, the Illinois Public Access Counselor found that a Chicago Public School’s Local School Council violated Section 2(a) of the Open Meetings Act by improperly discussing the timing and...more
On June 12, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-0640 which, among other matters, amends Section 7 of the Open Meetings Act to allow meetings of members of a public body subject to the Act to...more
On Friday, June 12, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Public Act 101-640,?which, among other things, amends the Open Meetings Act to allow public bodies to hold virtual board meetings without the physical presence of a...more
As with most issues relating to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), expectations regarding the holding of public meetings have been evolving rapidly over the past few days. ...more
The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor was once again busy during 2019, issuing binding decisions of interest to public entities governed by the Illinois Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act....more
Effective August 26, 2019, the Illinois Open Meetings Act has been amended, expanding the closed meeting exception to include discussion of personnel matters of independent contractors or volunteers in a closed meeting. ...more
In a recent nonbinding letter, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor reportedly requested that public boards allow members of the public to speak about concerns with the conduct of specific board members. ...more
Public entities can place reasonable time restrictions on public comment at their meetings as long as the time restrictions do not violate state or federal law, a California appellate court said in a fairly sweeping decision....more
Today, the California State Bar becomes subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Cal. Gov’t Gov’t Code § 11120 et seq. ). The Bagley-Keene Act generally requires multimember state bodies to provide public notice of...more
In a crucial victory for transparency, a Florida state appeals court ruled that the state's open meetings law will not "condone hiding behind federal mediation" when municipal governments try "to thwart the requirements of...more