Attorney General's Opinion 1990 #008

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT GENERALLY: VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

Meeting between two members of seven-member board of supervisors and two members of seven-member town council to discuss mutual governmental business constitutes "meeting" within Act's definition; compliance with Act's public meeting requirement.

February 21, 1990

900221

The Honorable Clifton A. Woodrum
Member, House of Delegates

1990 8

You ask whether a prearranged meeting between two members of a seven-member board of supervisors and two members of a seven- member town council, scheduled to discuss joint service contracts and other governmental business, constitutes a "meeting" as that term is defined in The Virginia Freedom of Information Act, §§2.1-340 through 2.1-346.1 of the Code of Virginia (the "Act").

I. Applicable Statutes

The Act, which became effective on July 1, 1968, establishes the public policy of the Commonwealth with regard to access to official records in the custody of state and local public officials and entry to meetings of public bodies. Section 2.1-341 provides, in part, that the term

'[m]eeting' or 'meetings' means the meetings including work sessions, when sitting physically, or through telephonic or video equipment pursuant to §2.1-343.1, as a body or entity, or as an informal assemblage of (i) as many as three members, or (ii) a quorum, if less than three, of the constituent membership, wherever held, with or without minutes being taken, whether or not votes are cast, of any legislative body, authority, board, bureau, commission, district or agency of the Commonwealth or of any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, including cities, towns and counties; municipal councils, governing bodies of counties, school boards and planning commissions; boards of visitors of state institutions of higher education; and other organizations, corporations or agencies in the Commonwealth, supported wholly or principally by public funds.

Section 2.1-341 also provides that

'[p]ublic body' means any of the groups, agencies or organizations enumerated in the definition of 'meeting' as provided in this section, including any committees or subcommittees of the public body created to perform delegated functions of the public body or to advise the public body.

II. Meeting of Two Members of Seven-Member Board of Supervisors and Two Members of Seven-Member Town Council to Discuss Governmental Business Constitutes "Meeting" Pursuant to Act

The Act requires that, except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all "meetings" of a "public body" must be open to the public. Section 2.1-343. Both a board of supervisors and a town council are "public bodies" within the meaning of the Act. Section 2.1-341. The term "public body" also includes "any committees or subcommittees of the public body created to perform delegated functions of the public body or to advise the public body." Id.

It is my understanding that the two members of each public body in the facts you present were designated or appointed by their respective board or council for the purpose of attending the meeting you describe to discuss joint service agreements and other governmental issues affecting both the county and the town and to report back to their respective public bodies. Since each of these two-member delegations was selected for a specific purpose and was not merely an ad hoc two-member group from each public body, it is my opinion that each of the two-member delegations constitutes a "committee" within the meaning of §2.1-341 ("public body"), and must, therefore, comply with the requirements of the Act. See Att'y Gen. Ann. Rep.: 1987-1988 at 236 , 238 (committee meetings of public bodies are subject to the public meeting requirement); 1985-1986 at 332 (committees established by public bodies are subject to the Act and must comply with the Act's open meeting requirement; such committees may also conduct closed meetings if the requirements of §2.1-344 are met); 1980-1981 at 384 (meetings of a committee of a county governing body are meetings subject to the Act, even though the committee has only two members).

Based on the above, it is further my opinion that the meeting between the two-member committee of a seven-member board of supervisors and the two-member committee of a seven-member town council you describe constitutes a "meeting," as that term is defined in §2.1-341 of the Act.1

Footnotes:

1. The facts you present provide no indication that this meeting was "held for [the] purpose of negotiating any issues subject to the [Commission on Local Government's] review." Section 15.1-945.7 (D). If this were the case, however, the meeting would be exempt from the Act's requirements unless the meeting is specifically required by law. See id.