Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OMCB Report 4 1996
OMCB Report 4 1996
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OF THE
. OPEN MEETINGS COMPLIANCE
OARD
BOARD MEMBERS
COUNSEL, OPEN
GS COMPUANCE BOARD .
y General
July 1996
OFTBE
OPEN MEE11NGS COMPLIANCE BOA
Pursuant to 10-502.4(e) of the State Government Article, th Board submits this annual
report, covering the period July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996.
Activities of the'Board
A.
Indeed, the Board wishes to acknowledge more generally e ongoing support of the
Attorney General's Office, especially the informed and dedicated inv lvement of Jack Schwartz,
Chief Counsel for Opinions and Advice, who was the author of the in uable Open Meetings Act
Manual (2d ed. 1995) and who has provided the Board with essenti 1 advice and guidance. In
addition, all of the recordkeeping and other clerical and administrativ support for the Board are
provided by Ms. Kathleen Izdebski, of the Opinions and Advice Division of the Attorney.
General's Office. The cost to the Board would have been significant h it been required to obtain
these support services elsewhere.
.
With the assistance of Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Izdebski, the Boa d .has prepared an updated
topical index and citator for its opinions. These are attached as ap ndices to this report. We
believe that these research aids will be of benefit to those who work with the Act, and we. shall
continue to issue updates periodically.
B.
complaints alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act. Some of th ~ complaints alleged more
than one violation; in two instanCes, two individuals complained separat 1y about the same alleged
violations.
Table 1 below indicates that, for the first time, journali ts were the majority of
complainants.
TYPE OF COMPLAINANTS
Type
Numbe.
Citizens
Government Officials
Journalists
8
Table 1
More complaints involved public bodies iI.1 municipalities than in othe : levels of government, as
Table 2 indicates. As the Board has noted in the past, this fact is unsu rrrising, because there are
several times as many municipalities as counties in Maryland.
Number.
State
4
School Board
Municipality
7
Table 2
lOne of the complaints involved Baltimore City, which we categorized a ,a county for this tabulation.
During the reporting period, the Board issued fourteen op nions. 2 In five of these
opinions, the Board found one or more violations of the Act. Table. below indicates the types
of violations found.
TYPES OF VIOlATIONS
NUI~ber
Type
Unlawful closing
Improper restrictions on videotapine;
minute~
1m-
Table 3
The violations involved both county and municipal public bodies, as rable 4 indi~ates.
State
County
School Boards
Municipality
3
Table 4
Considering the many hundreds of public bodies in Marylan , and therefore the many
thousands of meetings that took place during the reporting period, both the number of complaints
and the number of violations found seem to the Compliance Board to be relatively low. Although
it is impossible to estimate the incidence of unreported violations, the (ompliance Board believes
that the low numbers of known violations reflects overall complian ~ with the law by public
bodies at all levels of government. This conclusion is further suppor ed by the fact that only a'
handful of Open Meetings Act issues have been brought to court.
One of the opinions concerned complaints that had been filed during the prior fiscal year.
The Act calls upon us to discuss in particular "complaints conc rning the reason~bleness
of the notice provided for meetings." 10-502.4(e)(2)(iii). Notice iss es have not been a focus
of complaints, probably because the Act is quite flexible in allowing ar range of notice methods.
That is, the Act allows notice to be given by "any ... reasonable met, od," including posting at
a public location near the site of the meeting. Thus, the General
discretion to each public body as to the method of public notice. As 10 g as a public body posts
the notice or takes one of the other steps set out in the law in a timely anner, the Board will not
find a violation of the notice requirement. 3 In one opinion issued . his past year, .the Board
provided guidance to public bodies desiring to use cable television as method of notice.
.
The Act also calls on the Board to discuss "the impact on State and local governments of
the provision of 10-502(h)(2) of this article, inCluding a discussion 0 how the affected entities
had adhered to requirements of this subtitle. fI In 10-502(h)(2), the G neral Assembly extended
the definition of "public body" to inClude "any multimember board, ommission, or committee
a:p-pointed-by-the-60vemer--ef--tOO--Ghief-executiy-e_authority of a gQlitic subdivision of the State,
if the entity includes in its membership at least 2 individuals not e ployed by the State or a
political subdivision of the State." This provision originally carried
1994.
The Board received no complaints that an entity covered by his extended definition of
"public body" had violated the Act. Again, although the Board cannot ow of violations that are
not brought to its attention, the dearth of complaints in tills regard suggests .that these public
bodies have recognized their obligatioI?-s and are complying.
As the Board recommended in its first annual report, the Gener Assembly has eliminated
the sunset date for this provision. Chapter 473 of the Laws of Mary] nd 1994.
3 In addition, the notice requirements of the Act, like the rest of the Act, ~re entirely inapplicable to an
"executive function. "
II
Recommendations
The Compliance Board is to report annually "any recommenda .ons for improvements to
the provisions" of the Act. 10-502.4(e)(2)(v). The Compliance
ard has but one specific
recommendation this year: to eliminate 10-502.4(e)(2)(iv).
As noted above, this provision requires every annual report of the Board to discuss "the
impact on State and local governments of the provisions of 1O-502(h)(2) of this Article, including
a discussion of how the affected entities have adhered to the requirem ts of this subtitle." The
provision referred to is the one that extended the definition of IIpubli body" to include certain
citizen advisory panels.
In .all likelihood, the Compliance Board's duty to discuss this pro ision in its annual report
was linked to the sunset provision. The General Assembly wished to nsure that it would have
information enabling it to make a judgment about extending or elimina ing the sunset provision.
Now that the General Assembly in fact has eliminated the sunset pro sion, there appears to be
no sound reason for requiring a discussion of the issue annually. Should some particular
occUrrence in the future merit discussion in an annual report, the Com liance Board will do so.
But'anannual, required recitation serves no purpose.
In the Board's second arinual report, we indicated an intention
transforming the "executive function II exclusion from the Act into an
were unable to develop a consensus in support of this idea; some local go
persuasiv~ly about the burden that this change would impose, p
jurisdictions. The Compliance Board will continue its effort to expl
aspect of the Act can be reformed.
WP/KMI:FoUrth
propose an amendment
xception. However, we
emment officials argued
icularly on very small
re how this troublesome
/"-"
ATTACHMENT A
OPEN MEETINGS COMPLIANCE B ARD
TOPICAL INDEX
Opinions from July 1, 1992 - June 30, 199
The Act does not prohibit the taking of final action in cl sed session
94-5
--------------~----~T~o~p~ic~~ed~ssil~~~~~~~~n~--------------------
sess~on
.......... .
92-1
93-1
93-2
........ 94-5
COMPLIANCE BOARD
0 : fact
94-1, 94-8
Compliance Board has no enforcement authority ..... ; . . . . . .. 95-2
Business Relocation
A-2
o
Legal advice exception d!les not extend to policy deliberati n or any
other aspect of legislative process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95-11
Legal advice exception applies even if advice effectively d ermines
public body's decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96-6,96-7
Litigation
Litigation exception, 10-508(a)(8), applies to discussi n about
pending or potential litigation, including settlement options,
whether public body would be plaintiff or defendant . . . . . . . 94-1
Litigation exception does not apply to discussion of u derlying
policy issue not directly related to litigation .. . . . . . . . . . .. 94-1
. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94-5 .
Other law
Personnel
Within the except jon - discussion of:
Town manager's job description and employment status
92-1
..... ..
"
94-5
94-5
94-5
94-5
A-3
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..........
..
'"0"
..
..
94-5
94-5
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-5
94-5
94-5
Procurement
Discussion of strategy for project to be put out to bid fal' s within
procurement exception, 1O-508(a)(14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-5
Property acquisition
Discussion of sale of vehicles and acquisition of new ones' oes not
fall within property acquisition exception, 10-508(a, (3)
94-5
Public Security
Discussion of procedures for handling petty cash does' not fall
within the public security exception, 10-508(a)(lO) . . . . . . . 94-5
A-4
EXECUTIVE FuNCTION
M,eeting conducted by county commissioners with boar of nonprofit hospital, when commissioners have
versight
responsibility over hospital .. . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . .... . .. 92-2
Work session of municipal planning commission . . . . . . . . . . . .. 92-3
Discussion by regulatory board of complaint against elec .cian
92-4
95-5
95-7
. A-5
96-5
drive.. 94-7
95-2
95-5
LEGISLATIVE FuNCTION
LlCENSlNG MA'ITERS
"MEETING"
95-7
M:lNUT.Es
-----------------WhH-e---'!-t-()pics~()f_discussionl'-cliscl()sedm-minute-s-of-n
94-2
Act does not prescribe precise method by which m' tes are
prepared or amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-2
Minutes must reflect specific statutory authority for c osing a
session
.....
.
. . _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 94-5
Minutes summarizing topics discussed and actions taken t closed
session need not disclose confidential information . . . . . . . . . 95-1
Minutes must reflect any dissent from a public body's ac on ..... 96-2
A-7
NOTICE REQUlREMENTS
." ."
"
............ ..................... .
,
"
96-5
A-8
PuBLIC BODY
92-2
QUASI-LEGISLATIVE FuNCTION
Budget preparation process, including earliest stages of info mationgathering, is a quasi-legislative function subject to tAct . . .. 93-8
SCOPE OF ACT
ZONING MATTERS
Zoning does not include planning for purposes of the Act ....... 92-3
A-9
ATTACHMENT B
ST,<\TE GOVERNMENT ARTICLE
Opinion o.
Section
Page No.
95-5 . ..
. '. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
95-11 ..
. .............. 5
94-1 . ..
. .............. 5
95-9 . ..
. .............. 4
10-S02. Definitions
10-502
95-5 .. '. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
95-4 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
93-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
. . . . . . . . . . '. . . . . . . . .
...................
. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
...................
3
4
3
2
10-502(b)
95-8
95-7
95-2
94-7
10-502(d)
96-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
92-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . . 4
10-502(d)(1)
95-8
95-2
94-7
93-4
93-2
10-502(d)(1)(ii)
96-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
92-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
lO-502(d)(2)
96-5
95-8
95-7
95-2
94-7
...................
. ',' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
...................
...................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " ...
3
3
3
1
2
................... 2
... ~ . " . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :3
................... 3
. . . . . . . . . ~ ....... 3
P e No.
Section
10-502(e)
10-502(f)
10-502(f)(1)
95-8
95-7
95-2
94-7
................... 4
................... 3
................... 3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .' '.' 2
95-8
95-2
94-8
94-7
93-1
. ... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. .. :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ...
... .: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .. ',' . . . . . . . . ',' ....
3
3
2
2
2
10-502(f)(2)
96-5 . .. ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96-3 .. .. :.' . . . . . . . . . . '....
96-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95-10 ... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . " .....
95-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95-5 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95-4 . . . . . . . . . . . '. . . . . . . .
95-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94-10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....
94-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94-8 ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94-6 . ; . . . . . . . . ',' . . . . . . .
93-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93-] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92-4 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92-2 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
lO-502(g)
B-2
1
1
3
2
3
2'
2
2
2
1
2
3
3
2
4
2
2
2
..--~.
P e No.
Section
10-502(h)
96-5
94-9
94-7
93-6
92-2
10-502(h)(1)
.
.
.
.
.
..
..
..
..
..
.
.
.
.
.
..............
...............
..............
..............
..............
2
2
95-2 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93-10 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92-2 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
2
3
2
2
10-502(h)(1)(i)
95-10 ..
1i);;Si)2(1r)(1)(ii)S
9Zj.~-.-.-. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10-502(h)(2)
92-2 . ..
. ............... 3
10-502(h)(3)(i)
96-3 . ..
95-10 ..
. ............... : 5
. .............. 2
10-502(h)(3)(viii)
93-10 ..
. ................ 2
10-502(i)
95-8
95-7
95-2
94-7
93-4
...................
..... ; .............
....................
...................
...................
3
4
3
2
2
10-5020)
95-8
95-7
95-2
94-7
...................
...................
. . . . . . . . . . '. . . . . . . . .
...................
3
4
3
. .............. 2
10-5020)(2)
93-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
93-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
92-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1O-502(j)(3)
95-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B-3
Section
inion N .
e No.
96-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-10 . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
10-502(k)(1)
10-S02.S(a)
10-S02.S(d)(2)
. 10-S02.5(f)(2)
94-S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
94-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
- - - . - - - - --93-d'!--; -..- . '-;--. .- . -.-.-.-. ; .
..--.--.--.-.1---- -.----.-9S-2 . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10-S02.5(i)(1)
10-S02.5(i)(2)
10-503. Scope
95-2 . ..
10-S03(a)
. .............. 2
92-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
10-S03(a)(1)
96-5
96-3
9S-8
95-7
9S-S
9S-2
94-9
94-7
94-5
93-4
93-2
92-3
10-S03(a)(1)(i)
B-4
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '. 2
... : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
................... 3
................... 2
... : . . . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . 2
... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ',' 2
. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
................... 1
................... 2
.................. 2
, Section
96-3
95-7
95-6
95-4
94-6
10-503(a)(2)
e No.
........ -. . . . . . . . . . .,2
................... 3
................... 2
.... '... '. '. . . . . . . . . . . 3
................... 3
,10-503(b)(1)
92-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
92-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . '. . . . . . . 3
10-503(b)(2)
96-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
92-3 . . . . . . . . . . " . '..... 2, 3
10-505
10-506
, B-5
. .............. 2
. ............. 1
. .............. 3
e No.
Section
96-5
94-4
94-1
93-8
93-7
93-2
10-506(a)
...... ~ ............
...................
...................
...................
...................
...................
3
2
2
2
3
94-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
92-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
10-506(b)
10-506(b)(1)
,--
l-a=-506(D)(2}-- -
96-5- . ,..
- :,.-.-.... -,.-.~.-.,'~.-...295-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
94-4 .... :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
93-7 .... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
96-5
94-1
93-7
93-2
10-506(b)(3)
. . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
...................
.. ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
...................
2
2
3
10-506(c)
93-5 .... :. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2
1O-506(c)(2)
10-506(c)(3)
10-506(c)(4)
96-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-4 .... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B-6
Section
inion N .
e No.
10-507(a)
95-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10-507(b)
10.508. Closed Meetings Permitted
10-508
____________~1~(~a)~--------------------~9~6~-4~.~.~.~~.~.~.~
..~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
..~.4
95-2 .. , ..........' ..... 3 l - - - - 93-11 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
93-9 .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
93-1 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
92-4 .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
92-2 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
95-5 . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-5 . .. . ....... ; 3, 4, 5, 6
94-2 .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
93-11 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
'10-508(a)(1)
92-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10-508(a)(1)(ii)
95-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
10-508(a)(2) ,
95-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-5 ... ~ . . . . . . . . . . .. 5, 16
93-11 ....... " .......... 2
93-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
10-508(a)(3)
94-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
93-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2
10-508(a)(4)
B-7
o inion No
Section
Pa e No.
96-6 .... ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
95-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
95-3 ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
95-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-8 ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
94-7 . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-5 .. ,". . . . . . . . . 2, 3, 5, 9
94-3 ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
93-11 ... " . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3
93-6 . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
92-5 ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . ".. :2
92-1 ... , ...... ". 2,3,4, 5
10-508(a)(7)
94-8 . . ..
94-5 . . ..
94-3 . . ..
94-1 ... ,
93-11 .. ,
93-7 ... ,
92-5 . . ..
10-508(a)(8)
, 10-508(a)(10)
. .............. 3
. . . . . . . . . 2, 3, 12
. ............. 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 5
.............. 3
. . . . . . . . . . 3,4,5'
. ............. 2
94-9 ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
94-5 .... ' . '. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10-508(a)(1l)
92-4 .... ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1O508(a)(13)
94-7 .... : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10-508(a)(14)
94-5 . . . . : . . . . . . . . . 9, 12, 17
93-9 .... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
94-5
"94-1
93-7
93-6
10-508(c)
B-8 "
.... ,~ . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.... : . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
5
4
3
Section
e No.
95-7
95-5
94-1
93-7
93-2
...
...
...
...
...
10-508(d)(1)
95-3
95-2
94-5
93-1
...
...
...
...
. .............. 2
. '............... 4
. .... '..... 11,14
. .... .. ....... . 2
10-508(d)(2)
95-1 ...
94-1 ...
93-11 ..
93-7 ...
93-2 ...
1O-508(d)
. .... "........
. ..............
. ...... ....... .
. .... .. . . . . ... .
. .............
95-3 . . ..
95-2 . . ..
". 93-1 . . ..
10-S08(d)(2)(i)
10-508(d)(2)(ii)
1O-508(d)(3)
B-9
1
3
5
6
2'
~-
5
4
. ............. 2
. .............. 4
. .... ". . . . . . . . . "2
96-6 . . ..
. ............. 3
95-3 . . ..
95-2 . . ..
95-1 . . ..
94-7 . . ..
94-4 . . ..
93-9 . . ..
93-2 . . ..
93-1 . . ..
92-5 . . ..
92-4 . . ..
92-1 . . ..
. .............
. .............
. .............
. .............
. .............
. .............
. .............
. .............
. .............
.. ~ . . . . . . . . . 2,
. ... " . . . . . . . . . .
95-2 . . ..
92-4 . . ..
. ............. 4
. ............... 3
2
4
2
4
2
2
3
2
2
3
3
r
I
, 0 inion
Section
No
P e No.
10-509(a)(2)
10-509(b)
95-3
94-7
94-2
93-1
. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
... , .... ' . . . . . . . . . ;
.... : . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
5
2
2
96-4 ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
10-509(c)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 - . ._3'---_ _ __
94-2 . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
93-1 .... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
10-509(c)(1)
96-2 ... ,
94-2 . . ..
.............. 1
. ............. 2
10-509(c)(1)(iii)
96-2 ... ,
.............
10-509(c)(2)
95-7 . . ..
94-7 ... ,
94-5 . . ..
94-4 . . ..
94-3 . . ..
94-2 . . ..
94-1 . . ..
93-9 . . ..
93-7 . . ..
93-3 . . ..
93-1 . . ..
92-5 . . ..
. ............. 1
.............. 5
. ......' ........ 1
. ............. 2
. ...... ',' ... 1,2
. . . . . . . . . . . . 3,4
. ............. 6
. ............. 2
. ............. 6
. ............. 2
. ............. 2
..' ..... " ...... 2
10-509(c)(2)iii)
94-5 . . ..
93-11 . ..
. . . . . . . . . . . . 2,6
., . . . . . . . . . ; ... 2
B-10
Pa e No.
Section
10-509(c)(2)(iv)
95-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :3
94-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 7
1O-509(c)(3)(ii)
94-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
10-509(c)(3)(iii)
95-3 . . . . . . . . . . .' . . . . . . . . 3
10-509(c)(4)(iii)
95-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B-ll