The open meetings law mandates that public bodies keep “full and accurate” minutes of their official meetings. G.S. 143-318.10(e). Separate statutes expressly require “full and accurate” minutes for meetings of city councils and boards of county commissioners. G.S. 153A-42 (boards of county commissioners); 160A-72 (city councils). The School of Government recently published a Local Government Law […]
Posts Tagged ‘closed sessions’
Formulating Plans for Responding to School Violence in Closed Session: Who Can Attend?
Friday, April 6th, 2018In response to the latest school shooting, local school boards are reviewing and revising their policies and procedures for responding to incidents of school violence. Responses to these incidents increasingly require coordination among multiple jurisdictions. Discussions about these issues may require input from representatives from cities, counties, state law enforcement, and other resources outside of […]
Setting Salaries and Closed Sessions
Thursday, December 17th, 2015The city council has scheduled a meeting to discuss four things related to employee salaries: 1) Review of a pay study prepared by a consultant that describes current employee salaries compared with market rates; 2) Whether to authorize an across-the-board cost of living raise for all employees; 3) A proposed reorganization which includes a recommendation […]
Who Has Access to Applicant Information?
Thursday, June 5th, 2014Under North Carolina law, records containing information about applicants for local government jobs are confidential. Of course, employees and officials of the local government itself may view applicant information. This blog explores who, within the unit of government, can have access to employee information, and who may participate in closed sessions involving applicant information.
Recording Closed Sessions
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014North Carolina’s open meetings law allows any person to “photograph, film, tape-record, or otherwise reproduce any part of a meeting required to be open.” G.S.143-318.14(a) (emphasis added). What about meetings that are not required to be open? Does a person attending a closed session have a right to record it? If the public body decides […]
Quick-Reference Guide for Closed Sessions
Thursday, March 13th, 2014The North Carolina open meetings law requires most official meetings of public bodies to be open to the public. The law also lists nine permitted purposes for meeting in closed session. It sets rules for announcing and conducting closed sessions, and cases have interpreted these provisions, providing additional guidance. This blog post outlines the general […]
Voting and Taking Action in Closed Sessions
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010People sometimes assume that local government boards can never vote or take action in a closed session. That’s not quite true. Consider the following scenario: A city council has gone into a closed session under G.S. 143-318.11(5) and (6) to discuss the short list of candidates for the open city manager position, and to settle […]
What Happens in Closed Session, Stays in Closed Session…Or Does It?
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Elected officials and others are usually surprised to learn that there is no general law that prohibits board members from disclosing information obtained in a closed session. Disclosure of specific types of information is prohibited by separate statutes that make such information confidential (whether from a closed session or in any other context). So long […]
City and County Attorneys as Public Officers – a Possible Upside
Friday, September 11th, 2009In last week’s blog post, I discussed the status under the public records law of records kept in his or her law office by a local government attorney who serves on a contract basis, rather than as an employee. I noted that one of the rationales given by the Court of Appeals, in the Kitty […]
Open Meetings Book: New Edition Now Available
Friday, March 10th, 2017Can the board of county commissioners meet in closed session to discuss the performance of the elected sheriff or register of deeds? The open meetings law allows a public body to meet in closed session to talk about employees. But are these elected officials considered to be employees? The county commissioners have no authority to […]
Tags:closed sessions, Minutes, notice of meetings, open meetings, Public Comment, public hearings, sunshine week
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