Home 
Got a question? Try Ask the MMA When a board communicates by e-mail, what are the Open Meeting Law issues?
Q: With our busy schedules, e-mail can be a good way for our board to communicate about small matters. What do we need to be concerned about in relation to the Open Meeting Law?
A: Members of governmental bodies should be cautious about communicating via e-mail on an individual basis. This is because private, serial conversations may reach a quorum of members without the knowledge of all participants. Private, serial discussions of public business involving a quorum violate the Open Meeting Law regardless of the knowledge or intent of the parties. Certain housekeeping matters may, of course, be communicated outside of a meeting. Questions concerning meeting cancellations and scheduling often must be discussed outside of a meeting. Similarly, requests to put items on the agenda, so long as no substantive discussion occurs, are properly communicated outside a meeting. Other proper uses of e-mail may be to permit members of a governmental body to communicate with town department heads or staff. Both members of governmental bodies and town employees, however, must take care not to use such communications to poll board members or otherwise engage in deliberations. Additionally, whenever a member of a governmental body sends or receives an e-mail message, he or she should create a hard copy and immediately place it in a central file, where it can be provided as a public record on request.
As a general rule, e-mail messages among members of governmental bodies are best avoided except for matters of a purely housekeeping or administrative nature.
Adapted from Open Meeting Law Guidelines, published by the Middlesex district attorney’s office in September 2003
Got a question? Try Ask the MMA When a board communicates by e-mail, what are the Open Meeting Law issues?
When a board communicates by e-mail, what are the Open Meeting Law issues?
Q: With our busy schedules, e-mail can be a good way for our board to communicate about small matters. What do we need to be concerned about in relation to the Open Meeting Law?
A: Members of governmental bodies should be cautious about communicating via e-mail on an individual basis. This is because private, serial conversations may reach a quorum of members without the knowledge of all participants. Private, serial discussions of public business involving a quorum violate the Open Meeting Law regardless of the knowledge or intent of the parties. Certain housekeeping matters may, of course, be communicated outside of a meeting. Questions concerning meeting cancellations and scheduling often must be discussed outside of a meeting. Similarly, requests to put items on the agenda, so long as no substantive discussion occurs, are properly communicated outside a meeting. Other proper uses of e-mail may be to permit members of a governmental body to communicate with town department heads or staff. Both members of governmental bodies and town employees, however, must take care not to use such communications to poll board members or otherwise engage in deliberations. Additionally, whenever a member of a governmental body sends or receives an e-mail message, he or she should create a hard copy and immediately place it in a central file, where it can be provided as a public record on request.
As a general rule, e-mail messages among members of governmental bodies are best avoided except for matters of a purely housekeeping or administrative nature.
Adapted from Open Meeting Law Guidelines, published by the Middlesex district attorney’s office in September 2003
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
