The following is intended to educate the public as to what is and is not allowed under the “OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT” (OPMA) and IS NOT , and I repeat IS NOT, directed toward any individual nor should it be construed to have the intent to perpetuate any issue being discussed on this site. IT IS PURELY FYI !
As the title implies, the intent of the OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT is to insure that the process of governing is conducted in such a way as to allow maximum public exposure. With very few exceptions, the public is entitle to the same information that our elected official use to govern and furthermore entitled to communications that occur between our elected official in the course of governing. The most obvious example of this is an open public meeting which provides an opportunity for the public to observe and comment on any issue being discussed or otherwise. This is also why you will see notices of scheduled public meetings with the agenda’s published in the newspaper in advance.
Most people do not realize that any meeting of or communications (with very few exceptions) that occurs between government agencies and including elected officials falls under the OPMA. This would include letters, internal memos, electronic communications, etc. Emails are a form of electronic communications and would therefore be governed under OPMA. It’s not a matter how many people communicate amongst themselves or which departments are involved but instead the fact that none of this should occur unless the information is also made available to the public.
The intent of OPMA is to prevent decisions from being made outside of the public venue, i.e. without public input. It is a protection we enjoy by living in a democracy and it is very important to recognize that without this law our government could conduct business and enact laws or regulations without any accountability to other public.
As is the case with many rules and regulations, the practicality of adhering to them to "the letter of the law" can be difficult. For example, you could have a gather of people, elected or otherwise and some of which are employed by a government agency and they could be discussion a public matter. Is that in violation of OPMA? Probably yes if the subject matter was being discussed in a manner that would point of conclusion about a pending public decision. The same would be true for emails between public entities, employees, or elected officials even though it may have simply been their intention to simply move things along.
Finally, I am by no means an expert on this matter. Here is a link to a site that has some additional information on this subject
