5.4 Open Meeting Law - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 • Exceptions and the procedures to use them There are some exceptions to the open meeting law.Under certain circumstances,some meetings may be closed.There are also some meetings that must be closed.Before a meeting can be closed under any of the exceptions,the council must state on the record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describe the subject to be discussed.All closed meetings,except those closed as permitted by the attorney-client privilege,must be electronically recorded at the expense of the public body.Unless otherwise provided by law,the recordings must be preserved for at least three years after the date of the meeting. 1. Meetings that may be closed The public body may choose to close certain meetings.The following types of meetings may be closed: • Meetings to consider strategies for labor negotiations under PELRA.Although a meeting to consider strategies for labor negotiations may be closed,the actual negotiations must be done at an open meeting if a quorum of the council is present. Procedure.The following must be done to use this exception: — Before closing the meeting,the council must decide to close the meeting by a majority vote at a public meeting. — Before closing the meeting,the council must state on the record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describe the subject to be discussed. — A written roll of all people present at the closed meeting must be available to the public after the closed meeting. — The meeting must be tape-recorded. — The recording must be kept for two years after the contract is signed. — The recording becomes public after all labor agreements are signed by the city council for the current budget period. If an action claiming that other public business was transacted at the closed meeting is brought during the time the tape is not public,the court will review the recording privately.If it finds no violation of the open meeting law,the action will be dismissed and the recording will be preserved in court records until it becomes available to the public.If the court determines there may have been a violation,the entire recording may be introduced at the trial.However,the court may issue appropriate protective orders requested by either party. • Meetings to evaluate the performance of an individual subject to the public body's authority. Procedure.The following must be done to use this exception: — The public body must identify the individual to be evaluated prior to closing the meeting. — The meeting must be open at the request of the individual who is the subject of the meeting, so some advance notice to the individual is needed in order to allow the individual to make an informed decision. — Before closing the meeting,the council must state on the record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describe the subject to be discussed. — The meeting must be electronically recorded,and the recording must be preserved for at least three years after the meeting. — At the next open meeting,the public body must summarize its conclusions regarding the evaluation. The council should be careful not to release private or confidential data in its summary. • Attorney-client privilege.Meetings between the governing body and its attorney to discuss active, threatened,or pending litigation may be closed when the balancing of the purposes served by the attorney-client privilege against those served by the open meeting law dictates the need for absolute confidentiality.The need for absolute confidentiality should relate to litigation strategy, and will usually arise only after a substantive decision on the underlying matter has been made. This privilege may not be abused to suppress public observations of the decision-making process, and does not include situations where the council will be receiving general legal opinions and advice on the strengths and weaknesses of a proposed underlying action that may give rise to future litigation. A Good Start to Good Governance League of Minnesota Cities