Following Open Meetings Law requires understanding

Wyoming’s Public Meetings Law contains one of the most compelling statements found in Wyoming statutes explaining why the law even exists: “The agencies of Wyoming exist to conduct public business. Certain deliberations and actions shall be taken openly as provided in this act.”The laws found in Wyoming Statutes 16-4-402 through 16-4-408 are designed to make sure that Wyoming’s residents, put simply, can see what their elected and appointed officials are doing with their resources on their behalf. These laws require that Wyoming’s government agencies conduct their business in the open, with only a very limited number of exceptions.[caption id="attachment_12211" align="alignright" width="334"] Jim Angell
Wyoming Press Association[/caption]The reason for this is simple. If Wyoming’s residents are to have the information they need to govern themselves, they must be able to see what their governments are doing. Without that transparency, they cannot be expected to make informed decisions.The laws themselves are relatively easy to understand, but can be difficult to put into practice. Here are a few basics to keep in mind:1. Most importantly, all decisions made by a governing body – ALL – must be made in public. All votes must take place in the open. While governing bodies such as city councils and county commissions can meet to discuss a few things in private, all decisions must be made in public. Sometimes, there are difficult and unpopular actions that must be taken – but democracy is rarely pretty.Elected officials must be accountable at all times to the people who gave those officials their votes and their trust. Any decision not made in public, in the eyes of Wyoming law, never happened. So imagine if a contract is issued in a private meeting – an executive session – to build a jail. If the decision to issue that contract is not made in public, all work on that project must stop until the decision is made again in a proper setting.2. Governing bodies must discuss almost all of their business in open. Just as important as knowing how your elected officials voted is knowing why they voted that way. That is why the law requires open discussions.Governing bodies can meet in private, or “executive sessions,” for a few, very tightly defined, reasons. Here are the most common:Personnel issues – to consider the appointment, employment, right to practice or dismissal of a public officer (employee). This applies only to individuals. If the government entity is considering a raise or salary cut to all of its employees, that is a policy discussion that must take place in public. And all decisions on these issues must be made in public. State law does allow for contract negotiations to take place in private, however, again, final decisions must be made in public.Lawsuits – A governing body can meet in private to discuss a lawsuit in which it has been named or in which it is likely to be named. However, before the body can meet in private, there must be a very real likelihood that a lawsuit will be filed.Real estate purchases – Executive sessions can be held if a public body plans to buy property – NOT if it intends to sell property. Again, only discussions can be held. Decisions must be made in public.Confidential information – if the governing body is going to receive confidential information – say, the secret formula for Coca-Cola – then it can meet behind closed doors.Negotiations with vendors, such as contractors, must take place in an open meeting. Only contract negotiations having to do with public employees can be held in an executive session.3. When governing bodies do meet behind closed doors, they must announce why. Not the specifics, but the section of the law that allows them to hold an executive session. And minutes MUST be kept of that executive session.4. Any member of the governing body can object to meeting in an executive session. If, as an example, a city council member believes an executive session is being held improperly, perhaps to discuss something that should be a public matter, he or she can raise that objection during the session. That objection is to be recorded in the minutes of the executive session. Although most of the minutes of an executive session are confidential, state law says any part of the minutes reflecting an objection to the session MUST be made public.5. If no objection to the executive session is made during the session, a member of the governing body may enter his or her objection during that group’s next regular meeting. Why is this important? Because under state law, anyone who knowingly takes part in an improper executive session can face a civil penalty of up to $750. By objecting to the executive session, a member of the governing body becomes immune from that penalty.This might seem like a lot for elected officials to remember, but in reality, a lot of this is just common sense. Consider the fact that everything our governments do is paid for with our money. As a result, every governing body should do everything it can to make sure deliberations about how public money is spent take place in public.The Wyoming Supreme Court created a very good rule of thumb in its various rulings on transparency laws: When in doubt, err on the side of openness.