OMADetermination Letter (non-binding)No violationMeeting Notices & Agendas

Village of Brookfield not required to post advisory committee minutes online

The requester sought to compel the Village of Brookfield to post advisory committee meeting minutes on its website.

Date issued: March 18, 2016
Request number(s): 40638
Public body: Village of Brookfield
Statute(s): 5 ILCS 120/2.06
Outcome: No violation found

Plain-language summary

A citizen complained that the Village of Brookfield was not posting meeting minutes for its advisory committees online. The Attorney General's office reviewed the law and explained that the requirement to post minutes online only applies to the main governing body, not advisory groups. Therefore, the Village did not break the law.

Legal question

Does Section 2.06(b) of the Open Meetings Act require a public body to post the meeting minutes of its advisory committees on its website?

Holding

The PAC determined that the Village of Brookfield did not violate the Open Meetings Act because the statute does not require advisory committee minutes to be posted on a public body's website.

Summary

The requester alleged that the Village of Brookfield violated the Open Meetings Act by failing to post minutes of its advisory committees on its website. The PAC determined that the Open Meetings Act only requires the posting of minutes for the governing body, not advisory committees, and closed the matter.

Issues decided in this letter

Each question the Public Access Bureau decided, with the rule it applied. Extracted automatically from the letter; the source PDF is authoritative.

No violationOMA section 2.06(b)
Advisory committee minutes not posted on website
Rule applied: Section 2.06(b) requires only the governing body to post its meeting minutes on the public body's website, not advisory committees.

meeting minutesadvisory committeewebsite postingOpen Meetings Act

Reading view (584 words)

This reading view follows the source PDF's positioned text blocks. Page headers, repeated office furniture, and lower-margin notes are kept out of the narrative; source notes are available below. Reconstruction is automatic and imperfect — the PDF is the authoritative version, and it's linked on this page.

Dear Mr. Towner:

The Public Access Bureau has received your March 8, 2016, Request for Review alleging that the Village of Brookfield (Village) may have violated the Open Meetings Act OMA). For the reasons set forth below, the Public Access Bureau concludes that no further action on this matter is warranted.

Section 3. 5( a) of OMA ( 5 ILCS 120/ 3. 5( a) ( West 2014), as amended by Public ct 99- 402, effective August 19, 2015) provides:

A person who believes that a violation of this Act by a public body has occurred may file a request for review with the Public Access Counselor established in the Office of the Attorney General not later than 60 days after the alleged violation. * * * The request for review * * * must include a summary of the facts supporting the allegation. ( Emphasis added.)

Your Request for Review alleges that the Village has not posted on its website the minutes from the meetings of any of its advisory committees. Section 2. 06( b) of OMA ( 5 ILCS 120/ 2. 06( b) ( West 2014)) states:

A] public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular meeting ofits governing body open to the public on the public body's website within 10 days after the approval of the minutes by the public body. ( Emphasis added.)

The plain language of section 2. 06( b) requires only the governing body of the public body to post its meeting minutes on the public body's website. The Village operates a Village Manager form of government under which the Village Board of Trustees ( Village Board) appoints the Village Manager.' See 65 ILCS 5/ 5- 1- 4 ( West 2014). Because the Village Board is the Village' s governing body, section 2.06( b) of OMA does not require advisory committees' meeting minutes to be posted on the Village' s website. Therefore, your Request for Review does not provide a summary of facts from which this office could conclude that the Village violated OMA. Accordingly, we have determined that no further action is warranted as to this matter.

If you have any questions, you may contact me at ( 312) 814- 6437 or the Chicago address on the first page of this letter. This letter serves to close this matter.

Very truly yours,

Notes from the original PDF (3)

100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60601 • ( 312) 814- 3000 • TTY: ( 312) 814- 3374 • Fax: ( 312) 814- 3806 1001 East Main, Carbondale, Illinois 62901 • ( 618) 529- 6400 • TTY: ( 618) 529- 6403 • Fax: ( 618) 529- 6416
LEAH BARTELT Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 40638 o no fi war mun cc: Via electronic mail Mr. Kit P. Ketchmark Village President Village of Brookfield 8820 Brookfield Avenue Brookfield, Illinois 60513 kketchmark@brookfieldil. gov
Village of Brookfield, Village Manager' s Office, http:// brookfieldil. gov/ departments/ village- managers- office (last visited March 18, 2016).