New Materials Help Local Governments Comply with the Open Public Meetings Act

In partnership with The Center for Government Innovation, a service of the Washington State Auditor’s Office, MRSC has revamped and completely updated its Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) downloadable publication, its online OPMA Practice Tip Guidance Sheets, and OPMA webpages. In addition, MRSC has developed two new OPMA Practice Tips Guidance Sheets covering minutes and the development and modification of agendas.

OPMA Publication Update

The first step we took in our comprehensive OPMA publication update was to reorganize the publication’s flow so it better reflected how a local government would apply the OPMA. This includes step-by-step instructions regarding:

• Applicability — detailing which local agency bodies are subject to the OPMA
• What is a Meeting? — breaking down the definition of a meeting
• Exemptions — explaining which types of meetings are fully exempt
• Procedural Requirements — walking through the procedural requirements applicable to regular, special, and emergency meetings
• Executive Sessions — adding context for executive session topics
• Penalties and Enforcement
• Training Requirements
• Recommended Resources

The next step we took was to fully update the publication to reflect recent legislation. The OPMA underwent significant changes in 2022 when the legislature modified the law in response to how local governments had adapted and continued to hold their governing body meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, while the 2023 legislative session was quiet with regard to the OPMA, case law in recent years has added context to the OPMA’s obligations. The newly revised OPMA publication incorporates and highlights these recent and significant legislative changes over the last several years, including:

• A new section on serial meetings,
• A new section on hybrid and remote meetings,
• Additional detail on emergency meetings,
• New guidance on meeting cancellation and adjournment, and
• A detailed explanation of the public comment requirements for regular meetings at which final action is taken.

Plus, we updated the “Selected Questions” section included after each chapter by providing answers to those questions most frequently asked by MRSC’s local government customers over the last few years.

OPMA Practice Tips Guidance Sheets

Many years ago, MRSC developed OPMA Practice Tips Guidance Sheets on the following topics: (1) Agency Obligations: A Starting Point; (2) Notice Requirements; (3) Executive Session Procedures; and (4) Electronic Communications Practice Tips. These short guidance documents have proved to be quite useful for agencies because they break down the OPMA’s many obligations into specific topics.

We have now developed two additional guides, which are available online in addition to the original four items, to assist local governments with OPMA compliance: (1) Developing and Modifying Agendas; and (2) Minutes. These topics are broadly applicable to all local governments since most have experienced this scenario: An agenda is developed and published for an upcoming meeting of the governing body, a situation develops, and the published agenda must be modified. Plus, all local governments are required to take meeting minutes.

With these guidance sheets, we focused on providing not just the legal obligations for these topics but also practical tips and recommended practices.

Additional Improvements

MRSC also fully updated our series of OPMA webpages, and we drafted a blog on Practical Tips for Holding Hybrid Meetings.

Thank You to Our Partner

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank The Center for Government Innovation for partnering with us on this project to update our OPMA materials. They helped make this project a success.

Get an OPMA Case Law Update at Our Upcoming Webinar

We are providing OPMA training at an upcoming webinar on July 12, 2023. This training will cover the latest OPMA issues and case law updates for 2023, highlight MRSC’s new materials, and provide practical guidance on avoiding OPMA violations in areas such as setting/modifying meeting agendas, taking meeting minutes, cancelling or adjourning meetings, and more.

In the interim, here are links to all our materials related to the OPMA:

• Executive Session Basics and Executive Session FAQs webpages
• Open Public Meetings Act Basics and OPMA FAQ’s webpages
• OPMA publication (downloadable)
• OPMA Practice Tips and Checklists (downloadable)
• OPMA Court Decisions and AG Opinions webpage
• MRSC Insight Blogs on the OPMA