Agenda

The Law

Meeting notices shall include an agenda containing a list of specific items of business to be discussed or transacted at the meeting or information on how the public may obtain a copy of such an agenda. Except in the case of an emergency or in the case of a public body that ordinarily meets more frequently than once per week, at least seventy-two hours (72) hours prior to the meeting, the agenda shall be available to the public and posted on the public body’s web site, if one is maintained. A public body that ordinarily meets more frequently than once per week shall post a draft agenda at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to the meeting and a final agenda at least thirty-six (36) hours prior to the meeting. Except for emergency matters, a public body shall take action only on items appearing on the agenda. For purposes of this Subsection, an “emergency” refers to unforeseen circumstances that, if not addressed immediately by the public body, will likely result in injury or damage to persons or property or substantial financial loss to the public body. Within ten days of taking action on an emergency matter, the public body shall report to the attorney general’s office the action taken and the circumstances creating the emergency; provided that the requirement to report to the attorney general is waived upon the declaration of a state or national emergency.

1. Seventy-Two Hour Requirement
Public bodies must include an agenda in their meeting notices or information on where a copy of the agenda may be obtained. With two exceptions, a public body must make the agenda available to the public at least 72 hours before a meeting. The 72-hour requirement applies regardless of whether it includes a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. For example, a public body holding a meeting on a Monday at 9:00 a.m. would meet the 72-hour requirement if it made the agenda available on Friday by 9:00 a.m. 

The exceptions to the 72-hour requirement apply to: (1) meetings held to address an emergency, which are discussed in more detail below, and (2) public bodies that ordinarily meet more than once a week. Those public bodies must post a draft agenda at least 72 hours before a meeting and a final agenda at least 36 hours before the meeting.

2. Action on Agenda Items
A public body may discuss a matter, but cannot take action, unless the matter is listed as a specific item of business on the agenda. Action on items that are not listed on the agenda for a meeting must be taken at a subsequent special or regular meeting.

Example 25:
A mutual domestic water users association reserves an hour of its regular board meeting for public comment. During the public comment portion of a meeting, a member of the association complains about frequent interruptions in water service. The topic was not listed on the agenda for the meeting. If they choose, the board members may discuss options for addressing the complaint, but must delay any action on it until a subsequent meeting after the issue is listed on the agenda available to the public seventy-two hours before the meeting.

3. Specific Agenda Items
The agenda must contain a list of “specific items” of business to be discussed or transacted at the meeting. The requirement for a list of specific items of business ensures that interested members of the public are given reasonable notice about the topics a public body plans on discussing or addressing at a meeting. A public body should avoid describing agenda items in general, broad or vague terms, which might be interpreted as an attempt to mislead the public about the business the public body intends to transact. This is an especially important consideration when a public body intends to act on an agenda item.

Example 26:
The agenda for a school board meeting contains the following items of business:

1. Old Business
2. New Business
   1. vending machines in the cafeteria
   2. personnel matters

Under item 1, the board discusses and acts on three contracts. Under item 2(a), the board discusses and votes to allow vending machines in the middle school cafeteria. Under item2(b), the board dismisses the director of the district’s administrative office and reorganizes the remaining staff positions. The board’s vote under item 2(a) is proper. In contrast, the board’s actions under items 1 and 2(b) violate the Act because those items were not listed as “specific items of business” on the agenda, as required by the Act. Items 1 and 2(b) are described in such general and vague terms that they do not give the public a reasonably clear idea about the actions the board intended to take at the meeting.

Commentary
The Act relaxes the agenda requirement in cases of emergency. The public body must still provide an agenda for an emergency meeting, but it need not be available twenty-four hours before the meeting. In addition, if an emergency matter arises too late to appear on a meeting’s agenda, the public body is permitted to discuss and take action on the matter. For purposes of the agenda requirements, an “emergency” is a matter that could not be foreseen by the public body and that requires immediate attention by the public body to avoid imminent personal injury or property damage or substantial financial loss to the public body.

Example 27:
One hour before its regular meeting, a county commission is informed by the president of the bank holding deposits of county funds that the bank is about to fail. Because of certain accounting procedures, the commission’s deposits at the bank for the day total $50,000 above the amount covered by federal deposit insurance. The county commission may consider and act on the matter at its regular meeting to avoid the $50,000 loss.

Example 28:
A local school board calls a special meeting with three days notice. The meeting notice states that the only item to be discussed is the need for updated instructional materials for the following school year. The school board is not required to do anything else to comply with the agenda requirement of the Act.

Commentary
When a public body takes action on an emergency matter, it has ten days to report to the Office of the Attorney General. The report must include the action taken and the circumstances creating the emergency. Once it receives the report, the Office of the Attorney General will evaluate whether the public body properly treated the matter as an emergency for purposes of the Act’s agenda requirements. When a state or national emergency has been declared, the Act waives the requirement to report to the attorney general.