Waggoner, 011819 ALAGO, AGO 2019-18

• Case Date: January 18, 2019
• Court: Alabama

Honorable J. T. "Jabo" Waggoner AGO 2019-18 No. 2019-018 Alabama Attorney General Opinion State of Alabama Office of the Attorney General January 18, 2019          Honorable J. T. "Jabo" Waggoner          Member, Board of Directors          Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau          2200 Ninth Avenue North          Birmingham, Alabama 35203          Open Meetings Act of 2005 -Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau - Public Corporations -Board of Directors          The Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau is subject to the Open Meetings Act.          Dear Senator Waggoner:          This opinion of the Attorney General is issued in response to your request on behalf of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau ("Bureau").          QUESTION          Is the Bureau exempt from the requirements of the Open Meetings Act?          FACTS AND ANALYSIS          The Open Meetings Act of 2005 ("OMA") is codified at sections 36-25A-1, et seq., of the Code of Alabama. Section 36-25A-1 states that "[i]t is the policy of this state that the deliberative process of governmental bodies shall be open to the public during meetings." Ala. Code § 36-25A-1(a) (Supp. 2017) (emphasis added). Section 36-25A-2 provides the definitions applicable to the OMA and states, in pertinent part, as follows:

(4) GOVERNMENTAL BODY. All boards, bodies, and commissions of the executive and legislative departments of the state or its political subdivisions or municipalities which expend or appropriate public funds; all multimember governing bodies of departments, agencies, institutions, and instrumentalities of the executive and legislative departments of the state or its political subdivisions or municipalities, including, without limitation, all corporations and other instrumentalities whose governing boards are comprised of a majority of members who are appointed or elected by the state or its political subdivisions, counties, or municipalities; all quasi-judicial bodies of the executive and legislative

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