Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1)
Requirements Applicable to All Public Bodies.
(a) Except in an emergency, public bodies
shall file meeting notices sufficiently in advance of a public meeting to
permit posting of the notice at least 48 hours in advance of the public
meeting, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, in accordance with
M.G.L. c. 30A, § 20. In an emergency, the notice shall be posted as soon
as reasonably possible prior to such meeting.
(b) Meeting notices shall be printed or
displayed in a legible, easily understandable format and shall contain the
date, time and place of such meeting, and a listing of topics that the chair
reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting. The list of topics
shall have sufficient specificity to reasonably advise the public of the issues
to be discussed at the meeting.
(c)
Notices posted under an alternative posting method authorized by 940 CMR
29.03(2) through (5) shall include the same content as required by 940 CMR
29.03(1)(b). If such an alternative posting method is adopted, the municipal
clerk, in the case of a municipality, or the body, in all other cases, shall
file with the Attorney General written notice of adoption of the alternative
method, including the website address where applicable, and any change thereto,
and the most current notice posting method on file with the Attorney General
shall be consistently used.
(d) The
date and time that a meeting notice is posted shall be conspicuously recorded
thereon or therewith. If an amendment occurs within 48 hours of a meeting, not
including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, then the date and time that
the meeting notice is amended shall also be conspicuously recorded thereon or
therewith.
(2)
Requirements Specific to Local Public Bodies.
(a) The official method of posting notice
shall be by filing with the municipal clerk, or other person designated by
agreement with the municipal clerk, who shall post notice of the meeting in a
manner conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in, on, or near the
municipal building in which the clerk's office is located.
(b) Alternatively, the municipality may adopt
the municipal website as the official method of notice posting.
1. The Chief Executive Officer of the
municipality, as defined in M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, must authorize or, by a
simple majority, vote to adopt the municipal website as the official method of
posting notice. Any municipality that has adopted its website as the official
method of posting notice by another method as of October 6, 2017 will have
satisfied the adoption requirement.
2. If adopted, a description of the website
as the notice posting method, including directions on how to locate notices on
the website, shall be posted in a manner conspicuously visible to the public at
all hours on or adjacent to the main and handicapped accessible entrances to
the municipal building in which the clerk's office is located.
3. Once adopted as the official method of
notice posting, the website shall host the official legal notice for meetings
of all public bodies within the municipality.
4. Notices must continue to be filed with the
municipal clerk, or any other person designated by agreement with the municipal
clerk.
(c) A
municipality may have only one official notice posting method for the purpose
of M.G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18 through 25, either 940 CMR 29.03(2)(a) or
(b). However, nothing precludes a municipality from choosing to post additional
notices via other methods, including a newspaper. Such
additional notice will not be the official notice for the purposes of M.G.L. c.
30A, §§ 18 through 25.
(d) Copies of notices shall also be
accessible to the public in the municipal clerk's office during the clerk's
business hours.
(3)
Requirements Specific to Regional or District Public
Bodies.
(a) Notice shall be filed
and posted in each city and town within the region or district in the manner
prescribed for local public bodies in that city or town.
(b) As an alternative method of notice, a
regional or district public body may, by majority vote, adopt the regional or
district public body's website as its official notice posting method. A copy of
each meeting notice shall be kept by the chair of the public body or the
chair's designee in accordance with the applicable records retention schedules.
The public body shall file and post notice of the website address, as well as
directions on how to locate notices on the website, in each city and town
within the region or district in the manner prescribed for local public bodies
in that city or town.
(4)
Requirements Specific to
Regional School Districts.
(a)
The secretary of the regional school district committee shall be considered to
be its clerk. The clerk of the regional school district committee shall file
notice with the municipal clerk of each city and town within such district and
each such municipal clerk shall post the notice in the manner prescribed for
local public bodies in that city or town.
(b) As an alternative method of notice, a
regional school district committee may, by majority vote, adopt the regional
school district's website as its official notice posting method. A copy of each
meeting notice shall be kept by the secretary of the regional school district
committee or the secretary's designee in accordance with the applicable records
retention schedules. The regional school district committee shall file and post
notice of the website address, as well as directions on how to locate notices
on the website, in each city and town within the region or district in the
manner prescribed for local public bodies in that city or town.
(5)
Requirements
Specific to County Public Bodies.
(a) Notice shall be filed and posted in the
office of the county commissioners and a copy of the notice shall be publicly
posted in a manner conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in such
place or places as the county commissioners shall designate for this
purpose.
(b) As an alternative
method of notice, a county public body may, by majority vote, adopt the county
public body's website as its official notice posting method. A copy of the
notice shall be kept by the chair of the county public body or the chair's
designee in accordance with the applicable records retention schedules. The
county public body shall file and post notice of the website address, as well
as directions on how to locate notices on the website, in the office of the
county commissioners and a copy of the notice shall be publicly posted in a
manner conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in such place or places
as the county commissioners shall designate for this purpose.
(6)
Requirements
Specific to State Public Bodies. Notice shall be posted on a
website. A copy of each notice shall also be sent by first class or electronic
mail to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Regulations Division. The chair of
each state public body shall notify the Attorney General in writing of its
webpage for listing meeting notices and any change to the webpage location. The
public body shall consistently use the most current website location on file
with the Attorney General. A copy of the notice shall be kept by the chair of
the state public body or the chair's designee in accordance with the applicable
records retention schedules.
(7)
Websites. Where a public body adopts a website as its
method of noticing meetings, it must make every effort to ensure that the
website is accessible to the public at all hours. If a website becomes
inaccessible to members of the public within 48 hours of a meeting, not
including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the municipal clerk or other
individual responsible for posting notice to the website must restore the
website to accessibility within six hours of the time, during regular business
hours, when such individual discovers that the website has become inaccessible.
In the event that the website is not restored to accessibility within six
business hours of the website's deficiency being discovered, the public body
must re-post notice of its meeting for another date and time in accordance with
M.G.L. c. 30A, § 20(b).
