When A Meeting Is Public
G.L. c. 30A, § 20 — notice 48 hours ahead, and the right to record
In Massachusetts, all meetings of a public body are open to the public, except as the executive session section provides.
Except in an emergency, a public body posts notice of every meeting at least 48 hours before it, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. The notice is legible and easily understood, and gives the date, time and place and a listing of the topics the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed. In an emergency, notice is posted as soon as reasonably possible before the meeting.
- For a local body, the notice is filed with the municipal clerk and posted so it is conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in or on the building where the clerk's office is.
- For a state body, the notice is filed with the attorney general by posting on a website, with a duplicate filed with the state secretary's regulations division.
- Remote participation by members is allowed only as the attorney general authorizes, with a quorum, including the chair, present at the meeting location.
Any person may record an open session, after telling the chair. After notifying the chair, any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session, or transmit it through any medium, subject to the chair's reasonable requirements on the number, placement and operation of equipment. At the beginning of the meeting, the chair informs the other attendees of any recordings.
No person addresses a meeting without the chair's permission, and all persons are silent at the chair's request. No person may disrupt the proceedings, and a person who keeps disrupting after a clear warning from the chair may be ordered to withdraw. If the person does not withdraw, the chair may authorize a constable or other officer to remove them.
The purposes for which an executive session may be held, the complaint process run through the attorney general, and the remedies for a violation are in other sections of the chapter and are not reproduced here. Whether a particular gathering was a meeting of a public body is a question for a court and for a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- G.L. c. 30A, § 20 — Meetings of a public body to be open to the public; notice
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Massachusetts attorney.