Deputy County Attorney Jen Nelson led San Juan County’s annual Open Meetings Act training on Jan. 6, telling commissioners that deliberations and decisions about county business must be made in public and properly noticed.

Nelson opened by summarizing the basic rule: "when the government takes action or deliberates on the action to be taken, then it be done in public," and said that includes many forms of modern communication. He ran through several scenarios — including a group text about buying a new road shop, texts among commissioners during a meeting about pursuing tobacco-settlement funds, and phone calls that result in policy changes — to illustrate where private communications cross the line into reportable governmental deliberation.

Why it matters: Nelson said that if a set of messages among a quorum discusses the merits of an official proposal and reaches agreement, "that would be a pretty clear example of an Open Meetings Act violation," because the public was denied notice and an opportunity to observe decision-making. He also stressed the Act covers deliberations as well as final votes.

Nelson discussed how to distinguish administrative tasks from actions requiring public deliberation. He said routine implementation choices for already-approved projects (for example, incremental changes to how a county event is run) are generally administrative, but changes that alter policy, appropriate new funds, or repeal a previously adopted resolution should be handled in a properly noticed meeting.

On notice requirements, staff and Nelson noted 2023 statutory changes that created several notice classes (A/B/C) and removed a blanket newspaper-publication requirement; posting on the Utah public notice website now meets the statutory requirement in many cases. County staff said San Juan County will continue to publish notices in the San Juan Record, given limited internet access for some residents, and discussed other outreach options such as larger print notices or mailers for land-use matters.

Commissioners asked practical questions about how to recognize when an internal administrative conversation has crossed into policy deliberation. Nelson recommended commissioners pause and seek legal advice when uncertain, avoid taking votes outside public meetings, and rely on the clerk and county attorney for guidance on notice requirements.

The chair thanked Nelson for the presentation; commissioners did not take any formal action as a result of the training.