When A Meeting Is Public
Minn. Stat. 13D.01 — open meetings, and grounds stated on the record before closing
In Minnesota, all meetings, including executive sessions, are open to the public when held by a state agency, board, commission or department transacting public business, by the governing body of a school district, county, city, town or other public body, and by any committee, subcommittee, board, department or commission of a public body.
Before a meeting closes, the grounds are stated on the record. Before closing a meeting, a public body states on the record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describes the subject to be discussed.
- Votes on an action taken in an open meeting are recorded in a journal or minutes.
- Each member's vote is recorded on each appropriation of money, except payments of judgments, claims and amounts fixed by statute.
- The journal or minutes are open to the public during all normal business hours where the body's records are kept.
- At least one copy of the printed materials on agenda items given to all members is available in the meeting room for public inspection while the body considers them.
The chapter does not apply to meetings of the commissioner of corrections, to a state agency, board or commission exercising quasi-judicial functions in disciplinary proceedings, or where a statute expressly provides otherwise.
The grounds on which a meeting may be closed, the notice rules, and the civil penalties 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 Minnesota attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Minn. Stat. 13D.01 — Meetings must be open to the public; exceptions
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Minnesota attorney.