Open Meetings | moweaquapl

Open Meetings Act compliance policy

Approved February 2024

It is the public policy of Illinois (5 ILCS 120/1 et seq) that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the actions of the Moweaqua Public Library District (MPLD) Board of Trustees shall be taken openly and their deliberations conducted openly.

According to state law, "meeting" refers to any gathering—in person or by other means—of a quorum of the members of a public body held for the purpose of discussing public business or for the purpose of discussing public business.

Training

All board members shall receive training on compliance with this Act. The board president will submit to the Public Access Counselor a list of designated members who will successfully complete an electronic training curriculum on an annual basis. New members must complete the electronic training curriculum within 30 days after that designation. (https://foiapac.ilag.gov/)

Meeting schedules and notices

Public notice of all meetings, whether open or closed to the public, shall be given as follows:

The Board shall give public notice of the schedule of regular meetings at the beginning of each fiscal year and shall state the regular dates, times, and places of such meetings.

An agenda for each regular meeting shall be posted in the library building and on the library website at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. The agenda of a regular meeting shall remain posted on the website until the regular meeting is concluded. The requirement of a regular meeting agenda shall not preclude the consideration of items not specifically set forth in the agenda.

Public notice of any special meeting except a meeting held in the event of a bona fide emergency, or of any rescheduled regular meeting, or of any reconvened meeting, shall be given at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting.

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Board will prepare and make available a schedule of all its regular meetings for the given year, listing the times and places of such meetings.

If a change is made in regular meeting dates, at least 10 days' notice of such change shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which such body functions. Notice of such change shall also be posted at the library and supplied to those news media that have filed an annual request for notice.

Record keeping

The Board will keep written minutes of all meetings, open and closed, and a verbatim record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to

the date, time and place of the meeting
the members of the public body recorded as either present or absent
a summary of discussion on all matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.

The Board will approve the minutes of its open meeting at the next subsequent regular meeting. The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available on the website for public inspection within 10 days of approval. Minutes of meetings open to the public posted on the public body's website shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days.

The verbatim record will be destroyed without notification to or the approval of a records commission or the State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the meeting recorded but only after the Board approves the destruction of the particular recording.

The Board shall meet every six months to review minutes of all closed meetings. At these meetings, a determination shall be made and reported in an open session that the need for confidentiality still exists as to all or part of those minutes or that the minutes or portions thereof no longer require confidential treatment and are available for public inspection.

Unless the public body has made a determination that the verbatim recording no longer requires confidential treatment or otherwise consents to disclosure, the verbatim record of a meeting closed to the public shall not be open for public inspection or subject to discovery in any administrative or judicial proceeding other than one brought to enforce this Act.

Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be available only after the public body determines that it is no longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy of an individual by keeping them confidential, except that duly elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of an elected office in a public body shall be provided access to minutes of meetings closed to the public.

Public comment

In compliance with 5 ILCS 120/2.06(g)—MPLD policy is that “any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established and recorded by the public body” at meetings of public bodies, and we provide the following rules and guidelines for public participation:

Individuals attending Board meetings must conduct themselves with respect and civility toward others. Abusive, profane, threatening, or harassing language and/or personal attacks will not be permitted. The board president or presiding officer may prohibit further comment at the meeting by a speaker whose remarks violate this rule.

Public comments are permitted during the time designated on the Library Board agenda unless otherwise directed by board president. Public comments may be provided in one of the following ways:

in person at a Board meeting
as an email to the librarian and/or to the board president sent by 4:30 pm on the date of the meeting.

Comments submitted in other ways (writing or voicemail) will be shared with the Board in advance of the meeting and may be read or played aloud during the public comment section of the Board agenda.

The board president determines the order in which speakers will be recognized.

When recognized by the board president, the speaker may begin by stating their name. The Board may request but will not require a speaker to provide their address.

Public comments will ordinarily be limited to three (3) minutes. The board president shall have the discretion to modify this time limit, as well as to limit repetitive comments.

Board members are not obligated to respond to comments from the public. Issues requiring possible action by the Board may be added to a future meeting agenda, and issues that can be addressed by the administration will be noted.

Minutes are a summary of the Board’s discussion and actions. Speaker requests to append written statements or correspondence to the minutes are not favored. Generally, written materials presented to the Board will be included in the library’s files rather than in the minutes. The board president shall have the authority to determine procedural matters regarding public participation not otherwise defined in these guidelines. Petitions or other written correspondence directed to the Board shall be shared with the Board. A response, if appropriate, may be provided by the librarian or a member of the Board.