2005 Nevada Revised Statutes - Chapter 241 — Meetings of State and Local Agencies

CHAPTER 241 - MEETINGS OF STATE AND LOCALAGENCIES

NRS 241.010 Legislativedeclaration and intent.

NRS 241.015 Definitions.

NRS 241.020 Meetingsto be open and public; notice of meetings; copy of materials; exceptions.

NRS 241.030 Exceptionsto requirement for open and public meetings; waiver of closure of meeting bycertain persons.

NRS 241.031 Meetingto consider character, misconduct or competence of elected member of publicbody or certain public officers.

NRS 241.033 Meetingto consider character, misconduct, competence or health of person or toconsider appeal of results of examination: Written notice to person required;exception; public body required to allow person whose character, misconduct,competence or health is to be considered to attend with representative and topresent evidence; attendance of additional persons; copy of record.

NRS 241.034 Meetingto consider administrative action against person or acquisition of realproperty by exercise of power of eminent domain: Written notice required;exception.

NRS 241.035 Publicmeetings: Minutes; aural and visual reproduction; transcripts.

NRS 241.0353 Absoluteprivilege of certain statements and testimony.

NRS 241.0355 Majorityof all members of public body composed solely of elected officials required totake action by vote; abstention not affirmative vote; reduction of quorum.

NRS 241.036 Actiontaken in violation of chapter void.

NRS 241.037 Actionby Attorney General or person denied right conferred by chapter; limitation onactions.

NRS 241.038 Boardof Regents to establish requirements for student governments.

NRS 241.040 Penalties;members attending meeting in violation of chapter not accomplices; enforcementby Attorney General.

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NRS 241.010 Legislativedeclaration and intent. In enacting thischapter, the Legislature finds and declares that all public bodies exist to aidin the conduct of the peoples business. It is the intent of the law that theiractions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.

(Added to NRS by 1960, 25; A 1977, 1099)

NRS 241.015 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwiserequires:

1. Action means:

(a) A decision made by a majority of the memberspresent during a meeting of a public body;

(b) A commitment or promise made by a majority of themembers present during a meeting of a public body;

(c) If a public body may have a member who is not anelected official, an affirmative vote taken by a majority of the memberspresent during a meeting of the public body; or

(d) If all the members of a public body must be electedofficials, an affirmative vote taken by a majority of all the members of thepublic body.

2. Meeting:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b),means:

(1) The gathering of members of a public body atwhich a quorum is present to deliberate toward a decision or to take action onany matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction oradvisory power.

(2) Any series of gatherings of members of apublic body at which:

(I) Less than a quorum is present at anyindividual gathering;

(II) The members of the public bodyattending one or more of the gatherings collectively constitute a quorum; and

(III) The series of gatherings was heldwith the specific intent to avoid the provisions of this chapter.

(b) Does not include a gathering or series of gatheringsof members of a public body, as described in paragraph (a), at which a quorumis actually or collectively present:

(1) Which occurs at a social function if themembers do not deliberate toward a decision or take action on any matter overwhich the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.

(2) To receive information from the attorneyemployed or retained by the public body regarding potential or existinglitigation involving a matter over which the public body has supervision,control, jurisdiction or advisory power and to deliberate toward a decision onthe matter, or both.

3. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection,public body means any administrative, advisory, executive or legislative bodyof the State or a local government which expends or disburses or is supportedin whole or in part by tax revenue or which advises or makes recommendations toany entity which expends or disburses or is supported in whole or in part bytax revenue, including, but not limited to, any board, commission, committee,subcommittee or other subsidiary thereof and includes an educational foundationas defined in subsection 3 of NRS 388.750and a university foundation as defined in subsection 3 of NRS 396.405. Public body does not includethe Legislature of the State of Nevada.

4. Quorum means a simple majority of the constituentmembership of a public body or another proportion established by law.

(Added to NRS by 1977, 1098; A 1993, 2308, 2624;1995, 716, 1608; 2001,1123, 1836)

NRS 241.020 Meetingsto be open and public; notice of meetings; copy of materials; exceptions.

1. Except as otherwise provided by specific statute,all meetings of public bodies must be open and public, and all persons must bepermitted to attend any meeting of these public bodies. Public officers andemployees responsible for these meetings shall make reasonable efforts toassist and accommodate physically handicapped persons desiring to attend.

2. Except in an emergency, written notice of allmeetings must be given at least 3 working days before the meeting. The noticemust include:

(a) The time, place and location of the meeting.

(b) A list of the locations where the notice has beenposted.

(c) An agenda consisting of:

(1) A clear and complete statement of the topicsscheduled to be considered during the meeting.

(2) A list describing the items on which actionmay be taken and clearly denoting that action may be taken on those items.

(3) A period devoted to comments by the generalpublic, if any, and discussion of those comments. No action may be taken upon amatter raised under this item of the agenda until the matter itself has beenspecifically included on an agenda as an item upon which action may be takenpursuant to subparagraph (2).

(4) If any portion of the meeting will be closedto consider the character, alleged misconduct or professional competence of aperson, the name of the person whose character, alleged misconduct orprofessional competence will be considered.

(5) If, during any portion of the meeting, thepublic body will consider whether to take administrative action against aperson, the name of the person against whom administrative action may be taken.

3. Minimum public notice is:

(a) Posting a copy of the notice at the principaloffice of the public body or, if there is no principal office, at the buildingin which the meeting is to be held, and at not less than three other separate,prominent places within the jurisdiction of the public body not later than 9a.m. of the third working day before the meeting; and

(b) Providing a copy of the notice to any person whohas requested notice of the meetings of the public body. A request for noticelapses 6 months after it is made. The public body shall inform the requester ofthis fact by enclosure with, notation upon or text included within the firstnotice sent. The notice must be:

(1) Delivered to the postal service used by thepublic body not later than 9 a.m. of the third working day before the meetingfor transmittal to the requester by regular mail; or

(2) If feasible for the public body and therequester has agreed to receive the public notice by electronic mail,transmitted to the requester by electronic mail sent not later than 9 a.m. ofthe third working day before the meeting.

4. If a public body maintains a website on theInternet or its successor, the public body shall post notice of each of itsmeetings on its website unless the public body is unable to do so because oftechnical problems relating to the operation or maintenance of its website.Notice posted pursuant to this subsection is supplemental to and is not asubstitute for the minimum public notice required pursuant to subsection 3. Theinability of a public body to post notice of a meeting pursuant to this subsectionas a result of technical problems with its website shall not be deemed to be aviolation of the provisions of this chapter.

5. Upon any request, a public body shall provide, atno charge, at least one copy of:

(a) An agenda for a public meeting;

(b) A proposed ordinance or regulation which will bediscussed at the public meeting; and

(c) Subject to the provisions of subsection 6, anyother supporting material provided to the members of the public body for anitem on the agenda, except materials:

(1) Submitted to the public body pursuant to anondisclosure or confidentiality agreement which relates to proprietaryinformation;

(2) Pertaining to the closed portion of such ameeting of the public body; or

(3) Declared confidential by law, unlessotherwise agreed to by each person whose interest is being protected under theorder of confidentiality.

As used inthis subsection, proprietary information has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 332.025.

6. A copy of supporting material required to beprovided upon request pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 5 must be:

(a) If the supporting material is provided to themembers of the public body before the meeting, made available to the requesterat the time the material is provided to the members of the public body; or

(b) If the supporting material is provided to themembers of the public body at the meeting, made available at the meeting to therequester at the same time the material is provided to the members of thepublic body.

If therequester has agreed to receive the information and material set forth in subsection5 by electronic mail, the public body shall, if feasible, provide the informationand material by electronic mail.

7. A public body may provide the public notice,information and material required by this section by electronic mail. If apublic body makes such notice, information and material available by electronicmail, the public body shall inquire of a person who requests the notice,information or material if the person will accept receipt by electronic mail.The inability of a public body, as a result of technical problems with itselectronic mail system, to provide a public notice, information or materialrequired by this section to a person who has agreed to receive such notice,information or material by electronic mail shall not be deemed to be aviolation of the provisions of this chapter.

8. As used in this section, emergency means anunforeseen circumstance which requires immediate action and includes, but isnot limited to:

(a) Disasters caused by fire, flood, earthquake orother natural causes; or

(b) Any impairment of the health and safety of thepublic.

(Added to NRS by 1960, 25; A 1977, 1099, 1109; 1979,97; 1989, 570; 1991, 785; 1993, 1356, 2636; 1995, 562, 1608; 2001, 2395; 2003, 488; 2005, 2243)

NRS 241.030 Exceptionsto requirement for open and public meetings; waiver of closure of meeting bycertain persons.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section and NRS 241.031 and 241.033, a public body may hold a closedmeeting to:

(a) Consider the character, alleged misconduct,professional competence, or physical or mental health of a person.

(b) Prepare, revise, administer or grade examinationsthat are conducted by or on behalf of the public body.

(c) Consider an appeal by a person of the results of anexamination that was conducted by or on behalf of the public body, except thatany action on the appeal must be taken in an open meeting and the identity ofthe appellant must remain confidential.

2. A person whose character, alleged misconduct,professional competence, or physical or mental health will be considered by apublic body during a meeting may waive the closure of the meeting and requestthat the meeting or relevant portion thereof be open to the public. A requestdescribed in this subsection:

(a) May be made at any time before or during themeeting; and

(b) Must be honored by the public body unless the considerationof the character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical ormental health of the requester involves the appearance before the public bodyof another person who does not desire that the meeting or relevant portionthereof be open to the public.

3. A public body may close a meeting pursuant tosubsection 1 upon a motion which specifies:

(a) The nature of the business to be considered; and

(b) The statutory authority pursuant to which thepublic body is authorized to close the meeting.

4. This chapter does not:

(a) Apply to judicial proceedings.

(b) Prevent the removal of any person who willfullydisrupts a meeting to the extent that its orderly conduct is made impractical.

(c) Prevent the exclusion of witnesses from a public orprivate meeting during the examination of another witness.

(d) Require that any meeting be closed to the public.

(e) Permit a closed meeting for the discussion of theappointment of any person to public office or as a member of a public body.

5. The exceptions provided by this section, andelectronic communication, must not be used to circumvent the spirit or letterof this chapter to act, outside of an open and public meeting, upon a matterover which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisorypowers.

(Added to NRS by 1960, 25; A 1977, 1100; 1983, 331;1993, 2637; 2005, 977,2244)

NRS 241.031 Meetingto consider character, misconduct or competence of elected member of publicbody or certain public officers.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, apublic body shall not hold a closed meeting to consider the character, allegedmisconduct or professional competence of:

(a) An elected member of a public body; or

(b) A person who is an appointed public officer or whoserves at the pleasure of a public body as a chief executive or administrativeofficer or in a comparable position, including, without limitation, a presidentof a university, state college or community college within the Nevada System ofHigher Education, a superintendent of a county school district, a countymanager and a city manager.

2. The prohibition set forth in subsection 1 does notapply if the consideration of the character, alleged misconduct or professionalcompetence of the person does not pertain to his role as an elected member of apublic body or an appointed public officer or other officer described inparagraph (b) of subsection 1, as applicable.

(Added to NRS by 1993, 2636; A 2005, 2245)

NRS 241.033 Meetingto consider character, misconduct, competence or health of person or toconsider appeal of results of examination: Written notice to person required;exception; public body required to allow person whose character, misconduct,competence or health is to be considered to attend with representative and topresent evidence; attendance of additional persons; copy of record.

1. A public body shall not hold a meeting to considerthe character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical ormental health of any person or to consider an appeal by a person of the resultsof an examination conducted by or on behalf of the public body unless it has:

(a) Given written notice to that person of the time andplace of the meeting; and

(b) Received proof of service of the notice.

2. The written notice required pursuant to subsection1:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, mustbe:

(1) Delivered personally to that person at least5 working days before the meeting; or

(2) Sent by certified mail to the last knownaddress of that person at least 21 working days before the meeting.

(b) May, with respect to a meeting to consider thecharacter, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical or mentalhealth of a person, include an informational statement setting forth that thepublic body may, without further notice, take administrative action against theperson if the public body determines that such administrative action iswarranted after considering the character, alleged misconduct, professionalcompetence, or physical or mental health of the person.

(c) Must include:

(1) A list of the general topics concerning theperson that will be considered by the public body during the closed meeting;and

(2) A statement of the provisions of subsection4, if applicable.

3. The Nevada Athletic Commission is exempt from therequirements of subparagraphs (1) and (2) of paragraph (a) of subsection 2, butmust give written notice of the time and place of the meeting and must receiveproof of service of the notice before the meeting may be held.

4. If a public body holds a closed meeting or closes aportion of a meeting to consider the character, alleged misconduct,professional competence, or physical or mental health of a person, the publicbody must allow that person to:

(a) Attend the closed meeting or that portion of theclosed meeting during which his character, alleged misconduct, professionalcompetence, or physical or mental health is considered;

(b) Have an attorney or other representative of hischoosing present with him during the closed meeting; and

(c) Present written evidence, provide testimony andpresent witnesses relating to his character, alleged misconduct, professionalcompetence, or physical or mental health to the public body during the closedmeeting.

5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, withregard to the attendance of persons other than members of the public body andthe person whose character, alleged misconduct, professional competence,physical or mental health or appeal of the results of an examination isconsidered, the chairman of the public body may at any time before or during aclosed meeting:

(a) Determine which additional persons, if any, areallowed to attend the closed meeting or portion thereof; or

(b) Allow the members of the public body to determine,by majority vote, which additional persons, if any, are allowed to attend theclosed meeting or portion thereof.

6. A public body shall provide a copy of any record ofa closed meeting prepared pursuant to NRS241.035, upon the request of any person who received written notice of theclosed meeting pursuant to subsection 1.

7. For the purposes of this section, casual ortangential references to a person or the name of a person during a closed meetingdo not constitute consideration of the character, alleged misconduct,professional competence, or physical or mental health of the person.

(Added to NRS by 1993, 2636; A 2005, 977, 2246, 2248)

NRS 241.034 Meetingto consider administrative action against person or acquisition of realproperty by exercise of power of eminent domain: Written notice required;exception.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3:

(a) A public body shall not consider at a meetingwhether to:

(1) Take administrative action against a person;or

(2) Acquire real property owned by a person bythe exercise of the power of eminent domain,

unless thepublic body has given written notice to that person of the time and place ofthe meeting.

(b) The written notice required pursuant to paragraph(a) must be:

(1) Delivered personally to that person at least5 working days before the meeting; or

(2) Sent by certified mail to the last knownaddress of that person at least 21 working days before the meeting.

A publicbody must receive proof of service of the written notice provided to a personpursuant to this section before the public body may consider a matter set forthin paragraph (a) relating to that person at a meeting.

2. The written notice provided in this section is inaddition to the notice of the meeting provided pursuant to NRS 241.020.

3. The written notice otherwise required pursuant tothis section is not required if:

(a) The public body provided written notice to theperson pursuant to NRS 241.033 beforeholding a meeting to consider his character, alleged misconduct, professionalcompetence, or physical or mental health; and

(b) The written notice provided pursuant to NRS 241.033 included the informationalstatement described in paragraph (b) of subsection 2 of that section.

4. For the purposes of this section, real propertyshall be deemed to be owned only by the natural person or entity listed in therecords of the county in which the real property is located to whom or whichtax bills concerning the real property are sent.

(Added to NRS by 2001, 1835; A 2001 Special Session,155; 2005, 2247)

NRS 241.035 Publicmeetings: Minutes; aural and visual reproduction; transcripts.

1. Each public body shall keep written minutes of eachof its meetings, including:

(a) The date, time and place of the meeting.

(b) Those members of the public body who were presentand those who were absent.

(c) The substance of all matters proposed, discussed ordecided and, at the request of any member, a record of each members vote onany matter decided by vote.

(d) The substance of remarks made by any member of thegeneral public who addresses the public body if he requests that the minutesreflect his remarks or, if he has prepared written remarks, a copy of hisprepared remarks if he submits a copy for inclusion.

(e) Any other information which any member of thepublic body requests to be included or reflected in the minutes.

2. Minutes of public meetings are public records.Minutes or audiotape recordings of the meetings must be made available forinspection by the public within 30 working days after the adjournment of themeeting at which taken. The minutes shall be deemed to have permanent value andmust be retained by the public body for at least 5 years. Thereafter, theminutes may be transferred for archival preservation in accordance with NRS 239.080 to 239.125, inclusive. Minutes of meetingsclosed pursuant to:

(a) Paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 241.030 become public records when thepublic body determines that the matters discussed no longer require confidentialityand the person whose character, conduct, competence or health was consideredhas consented to their disclosure. That person is entitled to a copy of theminutes upon request whether or not they become public records.

(b) Paragraph (b) of subsection 1 of NRS 241.030 become public records when thepublic body determines that the matters discussed no longer require confidentiality.

(c) Paragraph (c) of subsection 1 of NRS 241.030 become public records when thepublic body determines that the matters considered no longer require confidentialityand the person who appealed the results of the examination has consented totheir disclosure, except that the public body shall remove from the minutes anyreferences to the real name of the person who appealed the results of theexamination. That person is entitled to a copy of the minutes upon requestwhether or not they become public records.

3. All or part of any meeting of a public body may berecorded on audiotape or any other means of sound or video reproduction by amember of the general public if it is a public meeting so long as this in noway interferes with the conduct of the meeting.

4. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, a publicbody shall, for each of its meetings, whether public or closed, record themeeting on audiotape or another means of sound reproduction or cause themeeting to be transcribed by a court reporter who is certified pursuant to chapter 656 of NRS. If a public body makes anaudio recording of a meeting or causes a meeting to be transcribed pursuant tothis subsection, the audio recording or transcript:

(a) Must be retained by the public body for at least 1year after the adjournment of the meeting at which it was recorded ortranscribed;

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, is apublic record and must be made available for inspection by the public duringthe time the recording or transcript is retained; and

(c) Must be made available to the Attorney General uponrequest.

5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, anyportion of a public meeting which is closed must also be recorded ortranscribed and the recording or transcript must be retained and made availablefor inspection pursuant to the provisions of subsection 2 relating to recordsof closed meetings. Any recording or transcript made pursuant to thissubsection must be made available to the Attorney General upon request.

6. If a public body makes a good faith effort tocomply with the provisions of subsections 4 and 5 but is prevented from doingso because of factors beyond the public bodys reasonable control, including,without limitation, a power outage, a mechanical failure or other unforeseenevent, such failure does not constitute a violation of the provisions of thischapter.

(Added to NRS by 1977, 1099; A 1989, 571; 1993, 449,2638; 2005, 978, 1404)

NRS 241.0353 Absoluteprivilege of certain statements and testimony.

1. Any statement which is made by a member of a publicbody during the course of a public meeting is absolutely privileged and doesnot impose liability for defamation or constitute a ground for recovery in anycivil action.

2. A witness who is testifying before a public body isabsolutely privileged to publish defamatory matter as part of a public meeting,except that it is unlawful to misrepresent any fact knowingly when testifyingbefore a public body.

(Added to NRS by 2005, 2242)

NRS 241.0355 Majorityof all members of public body composed solely of elected officials required totake action by vote; abstention not affirmative vote; reduction of quorum.

1. A public body that is required to be composed ofelected officials only may not take action by vote unless at least a majorityof all the members of the public body vote in favor of the action. For purposesof this subsection, a public body may not count an abstention as a vote infavor of an action.

2. In a county whose population is 40,000 or more, theprovisions of subsection 5 of NRS 281.501do not apply to a public body that is required to be composed of electedofficials only, unless before abstaining from the vote, the member of the publicbody receives and discloses the opinion of the legal counsel authorized by lawto provide legal advice to the public body that the abstention is requiredpursuant to NRS 281.501. The opinion ofcounsel must be in writing and set forth with specificity the factualcircumstances and analysis leading to that conclusion.

(Added to NRS by 2001, 1123; A 2003, 818)

NRS 241.036 Actiontaken in violation of chapter void. The actionof any public body taken in violation of any provision of this chapter is void.

(Added to NRS by 1983, 1012)

NRS 241.037 Actionby Attorney General or person denied right conferred by chapter; limitation onactions.

1. The Attorney General may sue in any court ofcompetent jurisdiction to have an action taken by a public body declared voidor for an injunction against any public body or person to require compliancewith or prevent violations of the provisions of this chapter. The injunction:

(a) May be issued without proof of actual damage orother irreparable harm sustained by any person.

(b) Does not relieve any person from criminalprosecution for the same violation.

2. Any person denied a right conferred by this chaptermay sue in the district court of the district in which the public bodyordinarily holds its meetings or in which the plaintiff resides. A suit mayseek to have an action taken by the public body declared void, to requirecompliance with or prevent violations of this chapter or to determine theapplicability of this chapter to discussions or decisions of the public body. Thecourt may order payment of reasonable attorneys fees and court costs to asuccessful plaintiff in a suit brought under this subsection.

3. Any suit brought against a public body pursuant tosubsection 1 or 2 to require compliance with the provisions of this chaptermust be commenced within 120 days after the action objected to was taken bythat public body in violation of this chapter. Any such suit brought to have anaction declared void must be commenced within 60 days after the action objectedto was taken.

(Added to NRS by 1983, 1012; A 1985, 147)

NRS 241.038 Boardof Regents to establish requirements for student governments. The Board of Regents of the University of Nevada shallestablish for the student governments within the Nevada System of HigherEducation requirements equivalent to those of this chapter and shall providefor their enforcement.

(Added to NRS by 1983, 1013; A 1993, 369)

NRS 241.040 Penalties;members attending meeting in violation of chapter not accomplices; enforcementby Attorney General.

1. Each member of a public body who attends a meetingof that public body where action is taken in violation of any provision of thischapter, with knowledge of the fact that the meeting is in violation thereof,is guilty of a misdemeanor.

2. Wrongful exclusion of any person or persons from ameeting is a misdemeanor.

3. A member of a public body who attends a meeting ofthat public body at which action is taken in violation of this chapter is notthe accomplice of any other member so attending.

4. The Attorney General shall investigate andprosecute any violation of this chapter.

(Added to NRS by 1960, 26; A 1977, 1100; 1983, 1013)