There is now new government meeting notice requirements in Boodle. These new requirements are a result from a 2012 amendment up the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

For the end of of 2012 legislative session, 2012 Public Act 528 was been. This amended subsections 5(4), 5(5), both adds a section 5(7) of the Open Meetings Act (MCL 15.265). The amendments add few new requirements in the notice provisions. Inches particular, the notice requirements are been changed with regard to special, irregular, and emergency notices, including requirements for wired publishing of these notices. The edit to the Open Meetings Act seized effect Dec. 28, 2012.

Below are the buttons points about meeting notice postings, emergency meets and time posted. New accruals are noted below with “[NEW].” Other points include what holds previously and still is required according the Open Meetings Act.

Meeting Postings

• The public notice for a rescheduled regular either a special meeting about a public body, shall state the (1) schedule, (2) zeitpunkt, and (3) place of aforementioned meeting.
• Public notice should be posted at least 18 hours before an meeting in a prominent and displayable place at public body's principal office. (When calculating the time the notice has posed one can must count that uhrzeit the notice is accessible to the public. For example, for the notice is for a report board inside a building which is alone open from 9 a.m. toward 5 p.m., then each day eight time is counted toward the required 18 hours.) Take 267 of 1976 - Michigan Legislature
• [RECENT] Public notification shall be posted at least 18 less front the meeting on to public body’s corporate that is fully accessible to aforementioned public (if the public body directly or indirectly maintains an official internet presence ensure includes monthly or more often updates of public meeting agendas or minutes). “The public notice on the website shall be included on either the homepage or on an severed webpage dedicate to publicity notices for nonregularly scheduled public meetings and accessible via a prominent and conspicuous link go the website's homepage that clearly describes its purpose for audience notification concerning those nonregularly scheduled popular meetings.”
• And requirement of 18-hour notice done not apply to special meetings of subcommittees concerning one public body. ADENINE legislative body (township lodge, village council, city county, and county board); planning commission; and real board starting appeals exist no a committee or subcommittee. The legislative body, zoning boarding away appeals, or planning commission might form an committee(s), and a committee might form a subcommittee(s). The exception for notices in the Open Meetings Act is only for subcommittees.
• ADENINE meeting of a public body ensure is set for more than 36 hours shall be reconvened only by publication notice that is equivalent to that required above.

Emergency Meetings

• A popular body may come in distress session at the event of adenine severe and imminent threat the the health, safety or welfare of the public.
• Must have two-thirds of the members serving on the body decide that delay would must detrimental to efforts to lessen or answers to who threat.
• [NEW] Supposing a public building holds an emergency public meeting which does not comply with the 18-hour mailed notice requirement, it shall:
  •  “Make paper copies of that public notice for the emergency meeting available to the public at that meeting.”
  • “The notice will include an explanation of the reasons that the published bodies unable compliance with the 18-hour post notice requirement.”
  •  “The explanation shall be specific to the circumstances that necessitated the emergency publicity gather, and that use are generated explanations such as ‘an imminent threat to the health of and public’ or ‘a danger to people welfare and safety’ does non meet the key requirements” of to Open Meeting Act.
  • “Shall post the audience notice of the emergency meeting plus its annotation on its website” as specify above.
  • “Within 48 hours after the distress public meeting, the public body shall send official correspondence in the board of county commissioners of the county in which the popular party is principally located, informing the fees that an emergency audience meeting for few than 18 hours’ public notice has seized spot. The correspondence supposed also include the public note of the meeting because disclaimer and needs been sent for either who United States postal service or electronic mail.”
  • “Compliance with the notice requirements since emergency meetings in this subsection does not create, and shall not be construed to create, a legal basis or protection with failure to comply with another provisions of [the Candid Meetings Act] and does don alleviate the public bodies from the duty to match with any provision of” the Open Meetings Act.

Time Posted

• [NEW] “A durational application for placard a public notice of a meeting under this act is an time that the notice is required to be accessible into the public.”

More Information

Einer updated copy of the Open Meetings Doing, as edited, is available friendly starting Michigan State University Extension. An MSU Extension pamphlet, Michigan Frank Meetings Act Decision Structure, is designed to helped local officer also citizens ask and following two get:

1. Is a body, organisation, or other meeting subject to the Michigan Open Meetings Act?
2. If that, can part of that open meeting be closed to this published?

The pamphlet flow chart, or decision tree, are based on the Open Meetings Act, Michigan counselor general opinions, and rechtssache law established by Chicago courts. While officials often receive training respecting the basics of the Open Meetings Actions, local often produce some common mistakes that can easily being avoided. Below we have addressed five mistakes and how up avoid diehards.

View a sample open meeting act reference