AGO 96-F-018.

• Court: North Dakota

North Dakota Attorney General Opinions 1996. AGO 96-F-018. STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINION 96-F-18Date Issued: September 13, 1996Requested by: Representative Gerald O. Sveen- QUESTIONS PRESENTED - I.Whether a report on a personnel matter of International Peace Garden, Inc., and a meeting of its board of directors to discuss the report and the personnel matter in general, are open to the public under the open records and meetings laws. II. Whether a report prepared at the direction of the board of directors of International Peace Garden, Inc., but in the possession of the private investigator who prepared the report, is a record of the corporation for purposes of the open records law.- ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINIONS - It is my opinion that International Peace Garden, Inc., is both expending public funds and supported in whole or in part by public funds, and therefore is subject to the open records and meetings laws. It is my further opinion that a report of International Peace Garden, Inc., on a personnel matter, and a meeting of its board of directors to discuss the report and the personnel matter in general, are open to the public. It is my opinion that a report prepared at the direction of the board of directors of International Peace Garden, Inc., but in the possession of the private investigator who prepared the report, is a record of the corporation for purposes of the open records law. - ANALYSES - The facts provided indicate that a private investigator has prepared a report for the board of directors (Board) of International Peace Garden, Inc. (Corporation) on a personnel matter involving an employee of the Corporation. The Corporation's bylaws apparently provide that it shall comply with North Dakota's open records and meetings laws. See N.D. Const. art. XI, §§ 5, 6; North Dakota Century Code (N.D.C.C.) §§ 44-04-18, 44-04-19. The analysis in this opinion applies to the Corporation and the Board regardless of whether this provision is included in the Corporation's bylaws. A three-prong analysis should be used to determine whether a record or meeting is subject to the open records or meetings laws and is open to the public. 1996 N.D. Op. Att'y Gen. 38, 39; 1993 N.D. Op. Att' y Gen. L-95. First, is the entity that is maintaining the document or holding the gathering subject to the open records...