New Jersey Foundation for Open Government
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A local publisher in Paterson filed criminal charges against the city council for shutting down public comment without allowing him to speak. A motion was made and seconded, and a council vote abruptly closed the public comment portion. Since people typically seek civil remedies when protocol at a public meeting doesn’t meet legal standards, the Read More …
Yesterday, 6/29/2017, bills S1045 and S1046 — the OPMA and OPRA amendments, respectively — passed out of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. NJFOG was there to support the bills, which are greatly improved from prior versions. For example, the Meetings Act amendment (S1045) includes a stronger agenda notice requirement that will help to limit Read More …
The OPMA statute generally requires that votes by public bodies occur in open session. However, the below article points out that tenure charges is an exception created by a conflicting statute, the Tenure Employees Hearing Law (N.J.S.A. 18A-6-11). Paterson Times Paterson school board’s closed session vote to file tenure charges did not break open Read More …
Interpreting the term “agenda” in the the outdated OPMA, the Appellate Division ruled on Aug. 18 in Opderbeck v. Midland Park Board of Education that the board does not need to provide supplementary documents with its meeting agendas. However, the Court called for modernization of the outdated law to coincide with today’s simplified means of Read More …