The emergency proclamation on the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and Public Records Act (PRA) continues to require all public meetings to be held virtually.
The current proclamation has been extended to September 1.
The Governor has the power to issue emergency proclamations for 30 days – after that legislative leadership must approve any extension. A longer extension of this proclamation would be very helpful to cities when planning for public meetings.
We encourage cities to let your legislators know that you would like them to take longer-term action and ask them to talk to caucus leaders about the need for longer extensions of the proclamation.
The proclamation continues to require all cities to hold public meetings virtually in a manner that allows the public to listen to the live proceedings. The proclamation was updated to allow cities in Phase 3 counties to include an in-person component to public meetings. However, all public meetings must still be conducted virtually as well. Cities in Phase 3 that wish to consider including an in-person component to meetings should review the proclamation carefully to ensure compliance with all provisions.
The recent changes announced by the Governor to in-person gatherings applies to any in-person attendance at public meetings. This means that for now you can have no more than 10 people attend in person. That limit applies to all attendees including staff, elected officials, and members of the public. Anyone attending in person is also required to wear a mask and socially distance from others.