Nevada Open Meeting Law
From Sunshine Review
Contents |
Which government meetings are open to the public?
All meetings of public bodies must be open and public, and all persons must be permitted to attend any meeting of these public bodies. There are some exceptions when the public body may hold a closed meeting.[1]
As long as doing so does not interfere with the meeting, any of the general public may record the meeting using any sound or video reproduction.
[edit] Meeting process
During the process of the meeting, no action can be taken on any matter unless it was specifically listed on the pre-released agenda notice. The agenda must include time for comments by the general public, if there are any, and a discussion of those comments.
A public body of only elected officials may not take action by vote unless at least a majority of all its members vote in favor of the action. A public body may not count an abstention as a vote in favor of an action. This does not apply in a county with a population of at least 40,000 unless the law-approved legal council advises that the abstention is required before the member in question abstains from the vote. This legal council's opinion must be in writing and must include the specific factual circumstances and analysis that led him or her to that conclusion.
Notice
Except in an emergency, the public body must post and provide notice of the time, place and location of the meeting, a list of the locations where the notice has been posted, and a clearly written list of the meeting's agenda of topics to be discussed. The notice must be posted at the public body's office or meeting building (if the body does not have a principal office) as well as at least three separate and prominent places. If the public body has a website, the notice must be posted on it as well, with all requirements applied to paper notices. The public body must post the notice by 9 a.m. of the third working day before the meeting.
The notice must disclose if any part of the meeting will be closed to consider the character, alleged misconduct or professional competence of a person. This section of the notice must provide the name of the person will be considered in the closed session. The notice must also include whether, at any point in the meeting, the public body will consider whether to take administrative action against a person, naming the person in the notice.
People can request notice of the meetings and the public body is obligated to provide a copy to them, either through the postal service or e-mail.
The public body must provide a copy of the meeting's agenda for the open portion, a proposed ordinance or regulation which will be discussed at the meeting and any other supporting material, at no charge. The only exception to this is if the information violates a public disclosure law or is confidential.[1]
Minutes
Each public body must keep written minutes of every meeting that include the date, time and place of the meeting, the members of the public body who are present and those who are absent, all matters addressed in anyway and, at the request of any member, a record of each member’s vote, the remarks of any of the general public who addresses the public body if he or she requests their remarks to be in the minutes (if the remarks were prepared in writing, he or she may submit a copy for inclusion), and any other information requested for inclusion by a public body member.
Minutes of public meetings, including audiotape recordings, are public records and must be made available for inspection by the public within 30 working days after the meeting's end. The public body must retain them for at least 5 years. The minutes can then be transferred for archival preservation.
The public must record all open and closed meetings on audiotape or another means of sound reproduction or have the meeting transcribed by a certified court reporter. Audio records and transcripts must be retained for at least a year after the end of the meeting, must be made available for inspection by the public while it is retained, and must be made available to the Attorney General upon request.
Minutes of closed meetings become public records when the public body determines that the matters discussed no longer require confidentiality and the person whose character, conduct, competence or health was considered has consented to their disclosure (that person is entitled to a copy of the minutes upon request whether or not they become public records) and when the person who appealed the results of the examination has consented to their disclosure. In this last case, the public body can remove any references to the real name of the person from the minutes. That person is entitled to a copy of the minutes upon request whether or not they become public records.
If a public body makes "a good faith effort" to comply with this but cannot because of factors beyond the public body’s reasonable control, (including, without limitation, a power outage, a mechanical failure or other unforeseen event) the failure is not considered a violation of the Nevada Open Meeting Law.
[edit] Exceptions
A public body may hold a closed meeting for only the following reasons:
- To consider the character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical or mental health of a person.
- To prepare, revise, administer or grade examinations that are conducted by or on behalf of the public body.
- To consider an appeal by a person of the results of an examination that was conducted by or on behalf of the public body. Any action on the appeal must be taken in an open meeting and the identity of the appellant must remain confidential.
A person whose character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical or mental health will be considered by a public body during a meeting may waive the closure of the meeting and request that the meeting or relevant portion thereof be open to the public. A request described in this subsection:
- May be made at any time before or during the meeting; and
- Must be honored by the public body unless the consideration of the character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical or mental health of the requester involves the appearance before the public body of another person who does not desire that the meeting or relevant portion thereof be open to the public.
A public body may close a meeting pursuant to subsection 1 upon a motion which specifies:
- The nature of the business to be considered; and
- The statutory authority pursuant to which the public body is authorized to close the meeting.
This chapter does not:
- Apply to judicial proceedings.
- Prevent the removal of any person who willfully disrupts a meeting to the extent that its orderly conduct is made impractical.
- Prevent the exclusion of witnesses from a public or private meeting during the examination of another witness.
- Require that any meeting be closed to the public.
- Permit a closed meeting for the discussion of the appointment of any person to public office or as a member of a public body.
The exceptions provided by this section, and electronic communication, must not be used to circumvent the spirit or letter of this chapter to act, outside of an open and public meeting, upon a matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory powers.
[edit] If violated
Any action taken by a public body in violation of this act is void.
The Attorney General may sue to have an action declared void or for an injunction against any public body or person to require compliance with or prevent violations. This injunction may be issued without proof of actual damage or other irreparable harm sustained by any person and does not relieve any person from criminal prosecution for the same violation.
Any person may sue in the district court of the district where public body usually holds its meetings or where the plaintiff resides. The suit may try to get an action declared void, require compliance with or prevent violations of the act, or determine whether the act applies to discussions or decisions of the public body. The court may order payment of reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs to a successful plaintiff in these cases.
Any suit brought against a public body with regard to this act must be commenced within 120 days after the action objected to was taken. Any suit that someone brings to have an action voided must be commenced within 60 days after the action objected to was taken.
The Board of Regents establishes requirements for student governments.
Penalties
The Attorney General enforces penalties on members in violation of this act in any way. If there is a meeting in violation of the act where action is taken, each member in attendance who knew the meeting was in violation is guilty of a misdemeanor. Wrongful exclusion from a meeting of any person or persons is a misdemeanor. No public body member at a meeting where action is taken in violation of the act is an accomplice of any other member in attendance. The Attorney General can investigate and prosecute any violation of this act.
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of open meetings lawsuits in Nevada. For more information go the page or go to Nevada sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
We do not currently have any pages on litigation in Nevada. To add some see our Sunshine litigation project page.
[edit] Misrepresentation of the law
Several Nevada school districts used to misinterpret the Open Meetings Law, closing meetings because the information they wished to discuss was not on the agenda. In 1991, Assemblyman Lou Bergevin of Douglas County pushed for legislation for clarification so that public bodies could discuss matters raised by the public.
Clark County School District new counsel supported the change in 1991 and told the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs, "… [W]hen the board members do not respond to the individuals concerned, it makes the individuals very antagonistic and they are very upset by an absence of response. So what we are asking for is the ability to allow the public to come forward, express their concerns, and get feedback from the board without taking any official action."
The legislation passed that year, but some Nevada school districts continued to work by the old interpretation through 2007.
The agendas for Washoe County School District and the Eureka County School District, say "The Board is precluded from discussing or acting on items raised by Public Comment, which are not already on the agenda."
The attorney general issued Washoe County School District a warning, saying "… [T]his Office advises that the Board change its policy of stating that the law prohibits the Board from commenting on statements made by the general public." As of October 2007, the agenda’s wording has not changed.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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