When do Meetings & Discussions Need to Comply with Open Meeting Laws?
This Guide is designed to help Larimer County’s Boards, Commissions, Councils, Committees, and Task Forces determine when their discussions trigger open meeting requirements. For simplicity, the term “Board” collectively refers to all types of Boards, Commissions, Councils, Committees, and Task Forces.
1. Whenever a quorum of the Board meets to discuss public business or to take action, open-meeting requirements apply.
• These requirements include giving advance notice to the public of when and where the meeting will occur, what topics will be discussed, and in some cases meeting minutes must be taken. Also, the public must be given the opportunity to observe the meeting.
• Important Note: Open meeting requirements apply to all forms of communicating about public business, whether in-person or virtual meetings, text message and email exchanges, telephone calls, and other means of communication.
2. Sometimes when less than a quorum for a Board meets to discuss public business, such as a subcommittee or working group, open meeting requirements apply.
• Open meeting requirements apply whenever a quorum or three members of a Board, whichever is less, meet to discuss public business. This means that medium and large size Boards trigger open meeting requirements even when less than a quorum communicates about public business.
• Example: If a 10-member Board with a quorum of 6 forms a working group with 3 members, when those 3 members gather to discuss matters related to the Board’s business, they will trigger open meeting requirements.
• Example: If a 10-member Board with a quorum of 6 forms a working group with 2 members, open-meeting requirements do not apply because the 2 members are not a quorum and are less than the 3-member threshold for open meeting requirements.
3. What qualifies as a discussion about “public business”?
• This term is not defined in state law but discussing “public business” means talking about the business of the Board. For example, when the Fair Board is discussing ideas, projects, rules, financing, plans, regulations, or other matters related to the County Fair they are discussing “public business.”
• Said differently, when the substance or essence of a discussion relates to the public purpose or work of the Board, the discussion is one of “public business.” In contrast, chance meetings and social gatherings where the business of the Board is not the primary topic of discussion are not discussions of “public business.”
*This Guide does not detail the specific requirements of open meeting laws. The staff liaison to each Board is tasked with ensuring requirements are satisfied.
