Walk It Through: The Public Meeting
A majority on a call, a dinner that is only social, and a closed session that still leaves an account.
A resident hears that a majority of the county commissioners held a conference call about the budget.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One board of county commissioners. The purposes for which a closed session may be held, the notice rules, and the remedies when a meeting violates the law are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- General accountThe record a public body keeps of a closed session, alongside full and accurate minutes, so that a person not in attendance would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired.
- Official meetingA gathering at any time or place, or a simultaneous conference by telephone or other electronic means, of a majority of the members of a public body for the purpose of conducting hearings, deliberating, voting or otherwise transacting public business.