AGO 1990-020.

• Case Date: June 07, 1990
• Court: Connecticut

Connecticut Attorney General Opinions 1990. AGO 1990-020. June 7, 1990Opinion No. 1990-020Senator Reginald J. SmithSenate Republican LeaderState CapitolHartford, CT 06106 Dear Senator Smith: In your letter of December 20, 1989 you requested our opinion on the validity of actions taken at a meeting of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women [hereinafter Commission] which was held in a location other than that specified in the notice of regular meeting distributed by the Commission Chairperson. While your question is similar to one posed previously by you, which formed the subject of an opinion of this office dated December 15, 1989, the factual circumstances you describe are sufficiently dissimilar to those posited in that opinion to require a new response. Our reply to your most recent inquiry is that business conducted at a regular meeting that was not properly noticed under the Commission By-Laws is not binding on the full Commission. The facts you describe that are relevant to this inquiry are as follows. The Commission Chairperson distributed a notice of a regular monthly meeting to be held on December 8, 1989 in Westbrook. Another Commissioner distributed notice of that meeting, stating that it would convene in Hartford. Three members, including the Chairperson, attended the session in Westbrook, while a quorum of members1 attended the meeting in Hartford. Business was conducted at the Hartford meeting. This business included the adoption of new By-Laws. Your inquiry concerning the binding authority of actions taken at the Hartford meeting can be answered by reference to the Commission's By-Laws and to general legal principles governing collective bodies. The statutes and regulations that govern Commission procedure do not address this issue.2 Commission By-Laws e D.5.a. states the following: The Commission acts through recorded votes of members of the Commission upon duly called meetings of the Commission. Binding Commission action can be taken only when, at the time of the contemplated action, a quorum of the Commission is present. A quorum is defined as seven (7) members of the Commission. (Emphasis added.) This provision indicates that the Commission can only act at "duly called" meetings. The term "duly called" in section D.5.a. is not defined in the By-Laws. However, section D.10.b. states that meetings will be...