PR 99-21 (1999).

• Case Date: December 24, 1999
• Court: Rhode Island

Rhode Island Attorney General Opinions 1999. PR 99-21 (1999). State of Rhode IslandDepartment of the Attorney GeneralPR 99-21 (1999)PR 99-21 Schmidt v. Ashaway Volunteer Fire Association and Ashaway Fire DistrictUnofficial Finding OM 99-38Unofficial Finding PR 99-21December 24, 1999Mrs. Kathy SchmidtBradford, RI 02808Re: Schmidt v. Ashaway Volunteer Fire Association and Ashaway Fire DistrictOur File No.: OM 99-0279 Dear Mrs. Schmidt: The investigation into your Open Meetings Act ("OMA") and Access to Public Records Act ("APRA") complaints filed against the Ashaway Fire District ("Fire District") and the Ashaway Fire Department ("Fire Department") are complete. You allege that the Fire Department violated the OMA on numerous occasions by, among other things, failing to state the section and the reason for convening into executive session, failing to post the time meetings would begin, failing to provide an oral interpreter, and starting meetings after the designated time. With respect to the aforementioned OMA allegations, this Department previously found that, for the purposes of the OMA, the Fire Department does not constitute a "public body." See Schmidt v. Ashaway Volunteer Fire Association, OM 98-33. Since the Fire Department does not constitute a public body, the OMA's provisions do not govern it. Id. Accordingly, we find no violation. Next, we shall address your APRA complaints filed against both the Fire District and the Fire Department. With respect to the Fire Department, you forward a copy of its minutes, which are redacted. These minutes were originally forwarded to the Department of the Attorney General by legal counsel for the Fire Department as part of a 1997 case involving you. As stated by the Fire Department's legal counsel in the cover letter that Mrs. Kathy Schmidt December 24, 1999 Page 2 of 4 accompanied these minutes to the Department of the Attorney General, "[a]ll personal matters have been excluded due to privacy issues pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-1." Your present letter to the Department of the Attorney General states: "I am asking [the Department of the Attorney General] if, indeed, [the Fire Department] can 'black out' all the information they did. It seems to me they DID NOT COMPLY with the law and just 'blacked out' whatever they felt like. If indeed this is wrong, I would like [the Department of...