Frontier Village Association
AGO 2019-O-20
No. 2019-O-20
North Dakota Attorney General Opinion
October 24, 2019
ISSUED
TO: Frontier Village Association
OPEN
RECORDS AND MEETINGS SUMMARY OPINION
CITIZEN'S
REQUEST FOR OPINION
This
office received a request for an opinion under N.D.C.C.
§44-04-21.1 from the Jamestown Sun asking whether
Frontier Village Association violated N.D.C.C. §
44-04-20 by failing to post notice of a special meeting.
FACTS
PRESENTED
The
Frontier Village Association1 held a special meeting on
September 29, 2019.
ISSUE
Whether
Frontier Village Association provided notice in substantial
compliance with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20 for its September
29, 2019, special meeting.
ANALYSIS
A
governing body of a public entity must post notice for its
meetings in substantial compliance with N.D.C.C. §
44-04-20. This includes preparing an agenda with the date,
time, location, topics to be considered, and notice of any
executive session.2 Section 44-04-20, N.D.C.C, also mandates
where this agenda must be posted, which includes the
entity's principal office, the appropriate central
location of either the auditor's office or on the
entity's website, the location of the meeting on the day
of the meeting, and also given to anyone who asks to receive
personal notice.3 For special meetings, the agenda must also
be provided to the official newspaper.[4] "Topics that
may be considered at an emergency or special meeting are
limited to those included in the notice."[5]
The
agenda for the September 29, 2019, special meeting was
provided to the Stutsman County Auditor but was not posted
otherwise.6 The newspaper was not notified, nor were
the Jamestown Sun reporters who had asked to receive personal
notice of all upcoming meetings.7 Finally, the
Association's agenda did not include a location for the
meeting, failed to specify the time of the meeting, and
failed to cite legal authority for closing the
meeting8 for attorney consultation and negotiation
strategy session...
