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°PAN °1," NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF <br /> = ' COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> -.4, ,:::1903., ';_' <br /> °F`°uN Received <br /> MEMORANDUM JUL 2 0 IBM <br /> TO: County Managers and Attorneys • Managers Office <br /> FROM: Jim Blackburn, General Counsel <br /> SUBJECT: Amendments to North Carolina's Open Meetings Law enacted in 1994 <br /> Chapter 570 of the 1993 Session Laws (Regular Session 1994), introduced in 1993 as House Bill <br /> 120, was ratified by the North Carolina General Assembly June 23, 1994 and becomes effective <br /> October 1,' 1994. The legislation amends the Public Records Law as it relates to the Hospital <br /> Licensure Act and the Joint Municipal Electric Power and Energy Act. It also makes changes <br /> in five general areas of the Open Meetings Law. <br /> I. Definition of "Public Body." <br /> The bill expands the definition of public body by specifically including constituent institutions <br /> of the University system and by removing a list of five criteria that had involved the method <br /> through which the body was established to determine whether it was a public body. In place of <br /> this list of five "establishment criteria" is a definition that includes any "elected or appointed" <br /> group that exercises or is authorized to exercise a legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, <br /> administrative, or advisory function" but "does not include a meeting solely among the <br /> professional staff of a public body,..." This expanded definition could cause confusion on the <br /> part of smaller advisory or working groups that may include some staff and some elected <br /> officials, particularly when such a group does not enjoy staff support or continuing legal advice. <br /> Notice and record keeping requirements may also create a hardship for such groups. <br /> II. Minutes of Executive or Closed Sessions. <br /> Until passage of this legislation, G.S. 143-318.10(e) specifically excluded "executive sessions" <br /> from the requirement that "Every public body shall keep full and accurate minutes of all official <br /> meetings." Chapter 570 specifically includes a requirement that minutes be kept of what are <br /> redefined as "closed sessions," but provides "that minutes of a closed session conducted in <br /> compliance with G.S. 143-318.11 (the list of subjects about which closed sessions maybe held) <br /> ' may be withheld from public inspection so long as public inspection would frustrate the purpose <br /> of a closed session." <br /> III. Closed Sessions, Permitted Purposes. <br /> The 1994 legislation repeals the 20 permitted purposes delineated in G.S. 143-318.11 and <br /> replaces them with seven purposes for which "closed sessions" are permitted. The list is prefaced <br /> with a statement that "It is the policy of the state that closed sessions shall be held only when <br /> required to permit a public body to act in the public interest as permitted in this section." The <br /> list includes: . <br /> • OVER • <br /> • <br /> ALBERT COATES LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTER • 215 NORTH DAWSON STREET <br /> P. O. BOX 1488, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27602-1488 • TELEPHONE(919) 715-2893 • FAX(919) 733-1065 <br />