Open Meetings and a TN DUI
Ohio Public Records Briefing - Edition #110
We know that many of our subscribers must deal with council or other types of meetings where public business is conducted. So, for this edition, we’re pairing some open meetings law content with your usual public records coverage.
Not everyone deals with open meetings issues regularly, but for those who work for a township, city council, or county commissioners’ office, these questions can come up fast. You’ve probably heard that government meetings have to be “open,” but what does that actually mean under Ohio law? Here’s some basic Q&A on Ohio’s Open Meetings Act, found in R.C. 121.22.
Open Meetings Q&A
1. What exactly counts as a “meeting” under Ohio law?
We know meetings have to be open, but what actually counts as a “meeting”? Under R.C. 121.22, a meeting is any prearranged gathering of a majority of the members of a public body for the purpose of discussing or conducting public business. So, if you have a three-member board, two members getting together to talk shop could trigger the Open Meetings Act. What qualifies as a “public body”? What counts as “public business”? Those definitions raise plenty of questions on their own—but we have to keep you coming back for more. We’ll dig into those terms in upcoming editions!
2. What notice must the public receive before a meeting can happen?
The notice required by law depends on the type of meeting. For regular meetings, the public body must establish a reasonable method for anyone to determine the time and place of those meetings. For special meetings (meaning any meeting that falls outside the regular schedule) the public body must give at least 24 hours’ advance notice to any news media outlet that has requested notification, including the time, place, and purpose of the meeting. In the case of an emergency requiring immediate official action, the members calling the meeting must immediately notify those same news media outlets of the time, place, and purpose of the emergency session.
If you have a public meeting without providing notice, any decisions made at that meeting could be invalidated!