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Attorney General warns remote participation and site visits can trigger OMA violations
Summary
The AG's attorney said remote attendees may appear passively on Zoom but must not participate, and recounted a finding where a quorum's unannounced site visit to a solar farm was ruled an OMA violation.
Adam Roach advised that remote participants should "stay on the Zoom screen and don't say anything and don't engage" to avoid creating a collective meeting; active remote participation can create an OMA violation. He noted this is a narrow carve-out and cautioned officials about the risks of dynamic, back-and-forth exchanges when a quorum is present.
Roach described a recent finding in which a public body visited a solar farm with a quorum present, failed to provide notice and thereby violated the OMA. He recommended sending fewer-than-quorum teams for investigatory work and reporting findings back in an open meeting.
