Sign up for the Open Government eNewsletter
We warmly welcome your thoughts on og-blog and especially welcome your emails with suggested postings and links to interesting stories and court cases. If you have something to say about open government in Washington State, sending it to og-blog is probably the best way to get it out. Don’t hesitate to contact us at greg@overstreet-law.com.

Monday, June 25, 2007

NJ School Board Whacked for $18,000 for Withholding Minutes of Open Meeting

"A school board that refused to provide complete minutes of board meetings was ordered to pay $18,000 in penalties and legal fees after a newspaper sued." When the school board's legal fees are added, the total loss for the students of the NJ district is about $50,000.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/NEWS01/70618015/1004/LIVING

To be crystal clear: Minutes of an open meeting in Washington are public records subject to disclosure. The law provides: "The minutes of all regular and special meetings except executive sessions of [all] boards, commissions, agencies or authorities shall be promptly recorded and such records shall be open to public inspection."

Tip of the hat to Leslie Graves for this story. She operates a great blog called State Sunshine and Open Records. She provides a weekly roundup of open-government news stories from around the United States in a feature called Random Friday Links, from which I found the NJ story.
Posted by at