Posts Tagged ‘Minutes’

How to Approve Minutes and General Accounts of Closed Sessions

Tuesday, June 5th, 2018

The North Carolina open meetings law requires public bodies to prepare minutes of all official meetings, and to prepare minutes and general accounts of closed sessions. G.S. 143-318.10(e).  Minutes and general accounts of closed sessions may be withheld from public inspection “so long as public inspection would frustrate the purpose of a closed session.” (For […]

Open Meetings Book: New Edition Now Available

Friday, March 10th, 2017

Can 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 […]

Approving Minutes of Meetings You Didn’t Attend

Wednesday, February 5th, 2014

The closed session meeting was contentious. Three of the five board members were ready to fire the manager. They were going off the board and were anxious to push for a vote on the dismissal before the election in November. The final vote was taken in open session and the manager was out. Then, new […]

Closed Session Minutes and General Accounts Under the Public Records Law

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

North Carolina’s open meetings and public records laws contain the core transparency requirements for local governments. They’re so often considered together that they can be thought of as first cousins, or even siblings. But they’re not twins, and the North Carolina Supreme Court has made clear that their requirements must be considered independently.  (“The Public […]

Who Needs Minutes?

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Some weeks ago I posted a blog about a mayor’s failure to sign minutes or an ordinance, noting that even when statutes clearly require such a signature (which is not the case in North Carolina), the courts have refused to invalidate the minutes or the ordinance simply because of the mayor’s failure or refusal to […]

Signing Minutes and Ordinances

Friday, October 30th, 2009

We occasionally get phone calls from local government officials who are concerned that the mayor – or in the case of a county, the chair of the board of commissioners – has not signed an ordinance or has not signed the minutes of the meeting.  In one instance the ordinance had been adopted several years […]