When A Meeting Is Public
MCL 15.263 — open meetings, no sign in required, and the right to record
In Michigan, all meetings of a public body are open to the public and held in a place available to the general public, and all persons are permitted to attend, except as the act provides. All decisions of a public body are made at a meeting open to the public, and all deliberations of a quorum of its members take place at an open meeting, except as the act's closed session sections provide.
The right to attend includes the right to record, without asking first. The right to attend a meeting of a public body includes the right to tape record, videotape, broadcast live on radio and telecast live on television the proceedings at a public meeting. Exercising that right does not depend on the body's prior approval, though the body may set reasonable rules to minimize the possibility of disrupting the meeting.
- No one can be required to register, give a name or other information, or meet any other condition before attending.
- A person is permitted to address the meeting under rules the body establishes and records.
- A person is not excluded from an open meeting except for a breach of the peace actually committed at the meeting.
- A member attending remotely announces that at the outset, and, unless it is for military duty, names the county, city, township or village and state they are attending from.
The notice rules, the purposes for which a closed session may be held, and the remedies when a decision violates the act are in other sections of the act 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 Michigan attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- MCL 15.263 — Meetings, decisions, and deliberations of public body; requirements
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Michigan attorney.