Alaska Open Meetings Act
From Sunshine Review
Contents |
All meetings, including teleconferencing, of an Alaska governmental body of a public entity are open to the public, unless exempt.
Reasonable public notice must be given for all meetings and it should explain the date, time, and place of the meeting and, if the meeting is by teleconference, the location of any teleconferencing facilities that will be used. These notices can be posted through print or broadcast media, as well as at the principal office of the public entity. The way in which notices are circulated should be consistent.
[edit] Meeting process
The members of the public or governmental entity will be considered in attendance and can participate by teleconferencing. If possible, these people will be supplied with the materials considered at the meeting. On a teleconference meeting, voting is by way of roll call so that each member's vote will be known.
When voting, except when voice voting, arrangements are made to be sure the public knows the vote of each member entitled to vote.
[edit] Exceptions
All meetings where deliberation, voting or discussion is taking place must be open, unless the governmental body votes by a majority to make the meeting an executive session.
Executive sessions
Executive sessions must be called open until a majority vote of the governmental body deems the content private. Subjects other than the ones mentioned at the motion calling cannot be opened at executive sessions unless they are related to the meeting's main question. Executive meetings are not for taking action, except to give direction to an attorney or labor negotiator regarding the handling of a specific legal matter or pending labor negotiations.
These sessions cover matters relating to finances of the public entity, subjects that would probably prejudice the reputation and character of any person, matters that are required to be confidential by law or ordinance, and matters involving consideration of government records that are not for public disclosure by law.
Executive sessions will not hold public, open meetings if the meeting's subject relates to:
- A governmental body performing a judicial or quasi-judicial function when holding a meeting solely to make a decision in an adjudicatory proceeding
- Juries
- Parole or pardon boards
- A hospital medical staff
- The governmental body or any committee of a hospital when holding a meeting solely to act upon matters of professional qualifications, privileges or discipline
- Staff meetings or other gatherings of the employees of a public entity (including meetings of an employee group established by policy of the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska or held while acting in an advisory capacity to the Board of Regents)
- The purpose of participating in or attending a gathering of a national, state, or regional organization of which the public entity, governmental body, or member of the governmental body is a member, but only if no action is taken and no other subject is discussed.
[edit] If violated
If action is taken during a meeting that was supposed to be open but was not, a lawsuit to void it must be filed in superior court within 180 days after the date of the action. The governmental body can void the action by holding another meeting that complies with the act, but the action will only be void if a court finds that the act was violated when the action was taken.
The court will make its decision about whether the action should be voided based on:
- The expense to public entity, other governmental bodies, and individuals
- The disruption that may be caused to the public entity, other governmental bodies, and individuals
- The degree to which the public entity, other governmental bodies, and individuals may be exposed to additional litigation
- The extent to which the governing body has considered the subject in previous, legally open meetings
- The amount of time that has passed since the action was taken
- The degree to which the public entity, other governmental bodies, or individuals have come to rely on the action
- Whether and how much the governmental body has tried to converse with the public about reconsideration of matters originally considered in violation
- The degree to which violations of this section were wilful, flagrant, or obvious
- The degree to which the governing body failed to adhere to the policy
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of open meetings lawsuits in Alaska. For more information go the the page or go to Alaska sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
| Lawsuit | Year |
|---|---|
| City of Kenai v. Kenai Peninsula Newspapers | 1982 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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