In North Dakota, you have a right to attend (most) governmental meetings. An open meeting is a gathering of a governmental body, like a board or a commission, and in North Dakota these meetings are open to the public, unless exempted by state law. 

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Key aspects of open meetings are: public access, transparency, advance notice of the meeting, and the opportunity for public participation, usually through a public comment period.

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What You Should Know:

• A public entity must provide public notice of the date, time and location of a meeting and post the agenda as soon as it's ready.

• Governing bodies can limit public comments by time or agenda topics and have policies in place to make sure comments aren't disruptive and also relevant .

• Meeting minutes and draft minutes that haven't yet been approved are public records and must be provided to anyone upon request.

• Emails or text messages between members of a committee regarding public business may constitute a meeting and violate open meeting laws

• Social gatherings attended by a quorum of a public entity are not meetings; however, as soon as the members discuss any public business, it becomes a meeting and may violate open meeting laws.

• Anyone may request an attorney general's opinion to review an open meetings violation, such as the denial of access to a public meeting. A request must be made within 30 days of the alleged violation. The only exception is for an opinion request on a meeting that failed to give public notice, which must be made within 90 days of the alleged violation.

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Common Violations of Open Meeting Laws:

• Emails: Using emails or other communication methods where a quorum is involved to discuss public business. These are violations:

  • ​A member sharing thoughts, ideas, or opinions to a quorum of a public entity or a committee, even if no one responds.

  • Hitting “reply all” to a permissible communication to then hold a discussion or provide an opinion.

• Phone Calls to Members: Telephone straw polling to gauge the opinions of those in the public entity.​

• Serial Meetings: A series of smaller gatherings, which collectively constitute a forum, and public business is discussed.​

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KEY TERMS:​​​

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Meeting is any gathering of a quorum of the members of a governing body of a public entity regarding public business, and includes committees and subcommittees, informal gatherings or work sessions, and discussions where a quorum of members are participating by phone or any other electronic communication.​​

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Public entity is a public or governmental bodies, boards, bureaus, commissions, or agencies of the state, or any task force or working group created by the individual in charge of a state agency or institution, to exercise public authority or perform a governmental function.

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Public business is all matters that relate to the performance of the public entity's governmental functions and the public entity's use of public funds.

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Quorum is the minimum number of members of the board or commission required to officially hold a meeting and do business. Usually it means a majority of the number of people on the board (i.e. 4 of the 7 members).