Champaign County board receives training on Illinois Open Meetings Act duties, virtual attendance and closed-session rules

Andrew, an attorney with the Champaign County state's attorney's office, briefed the Champaign County Board on requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, telling members the law “prohibits secret deliberations by public bodies” and sets standards for meeting notice, agendas, minutes and training.

The presentation, delivered to board members and staff, explained why the law matters: it ensures meetings supported by public tax dollars are open to the public and that deliberations are observable. Andrew summarized the training obligation, notice and agenda requirements, how a “meeting” is defined, rules for closing meetings, virtual attendance standards and enforcement options including complaints to the Public Access Counselor (PAC) and civil or criminal remedies.

Under the guidance, each elected or appointed member of a public body subject to the Open Meetings Act must complete the electronic OMA training curriculum once and file a certificate of completion with the public body; each public body must appoint one person to complete the training annually. The attorney recommended annual refresher training for all members even though only one designee is required to complete the course each year.

Andrew said the Act defines a meeting broadly to include in-person gatherings, telephone or video conferences and “contemporaneous interactive communication” such as instant messaging or certain email exchanges when a majority of a quorum of members is engaged for the purpose of discussing public business. He illustrated the numerical test: for a 22-member body, a quorum is 12 and a “majority of a quorum” is seven.

Board members asked how email chains, text messages and instant messaging might be treated. Andrew cautioned that if communications evolve into deliberation—examining or weighing reasons for or against a course of action—they are at higher risk of being treated as a meeting. “Please let's save any discussion for the next noticed meeting,” he recommended as a precautionary phrase members can use in written exchanges to reduce the risk that informal communications will be treated as deliberative.

On notice and agendas, the attorney said regular- and special-meeting notices must be posted at least 48 hours before the meeting at the body’s principal office (or building where the meeting will be held) and on the public-body website if maintained by full-time staff. If a public body changes its regular meeting schedule, it must publish notice at least 10 calendar days in a newspaper of general circulation and post the change at its principal office; a news article about the change does not satisfy the publication requirement, he said.

The presentation covered closed meetings and the strict procedural steps needed to go into closed session: the public body must cite the specific section 2 exemption authorizing closure, hold and record a vote to enter closed session that identifies that exemption, and keep minutes. No final action may be taken during closed session; any final vote must occur in open session. The attorney highlighted common exemptions (staff appointments or discipline, collective bargaining deliberations, pending or probable litigation) and noted the required semiannual review of closed-session minutes.

Enforcement and remedies were described in concrete terms: a member of the public may file a written request for review with the Public Access Counselor within 60 calendar days of an alleged violation (or within 60 days of discovery if the violation could not reasonably have been discovered within the 60-day window, with limited circumstances extending the window up to two years). The state's attorney may bring civil or, in some cases, criminal action; the attorney said criminal liability under the statute can include a class C misdemeanor (up to about 30 days in jail and a fine up to $1,000). Courts may order remedies including requiring a public meeting to be reconvened, releasing minutes, injunctions against future violations, declaring actions null and void and awarding attorney fees.

The attorney also summarized recent PAC guidance on virtual attendance: if a quorum of members is physically present, a majority of the public body may allow an absent member to attend virtually only for specified reasons—examples included personal illness or disability, employment obligations, family emergency and unexpected childcare obligations—and only to the extent the body’s rules allow. Presenters or outside experts may attend virtually if the body permits it, but the focus under the Act is on the physical presence of the public-body members.

Board members asked about records such as personal notes taken in closed meetings; the attorney said some note formats may be exempt from FOIA but cautioned that personal notes could still be treated as local records and that the exemption process should be consulted with the state's attorney’s office. He also recommended using placeholders on agendas when a topic is evolving so the body can discuss and, if appropriate, take action later without violating agenda rules.

There were several clarifying questions from members, including about whether ad hoc committees or outside groups that receive tax money could be public bodies; the attorney said the initial presumption is that entities supported in whole or in part by tax revenue are public bodies and might fall under the Act and that his office can evaluate specific groups under the relevant test. The presentation materials and Illinois Municipal League handbooks referenced in the briefing will be circulated to the board.

No formal votes on policy or ordinance items were recorded during the training session. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.