Information
Open Meetings
A. Every meeting of any public body will be open to the public.
B. Each public body will be prohibited from utilizing secret balloting
C. All votes made by members of a public body will be via voice and will be recorded in the minutes, journal, or other official, written proceedings of the body, which will be a public document.
D. Each public body conducting a meeting will allow a public comment period at any point in the meeting prior to action on an agenda item upon which a vote is to be taken.
Public Records
A. Except with respect to the records made available, public bodies, upon any request for records which reasonably describes such records, will make the records promptly available to any person.
- In making any record available to a person, the public body will provide the record in any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by the public body in that form or format.
- The public body will make reasonable efforts to maintain its records in forms or formats that are reproducible for the purposes of this section.
- In responding to a request for records, the public body will make reasonable efforts to search for the records in electronic form or format.
B. The public body, upon any request for records, will:
- Determine within 10 days after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with such request and will immediately notify the person making such a request of such determination and the reasons why.
C. In the case of an adverse determination, a person will have the right to appeal to the head of the relevant public body.
- The head of the public body will make a determination with respect to any appeal within 5 days after the receipt of such appeal. If, on appeal, the denial of the request for records is in whole or in part upheld, the relevant public body will notify the person making the request.
- The 5 day period will commence on the date on which the request is first received by the appropriate public body.
D. The public body may make one request to the requester for information and toll the 10 day period while it is awaiting such information that it has reasonably requested from the requester.