Open Meeting Law

 
 

The Nevada Attorney General has updated the office’s manual on the state’s open meeting law. It provides a good overview for state and local boards and commissions on what they need to do to comply.


Download a copy of the manual here.


The law itself is NRS 241.


For opinions on how the law is applied, visit the Attorney General’s page on open meetings.



The law on public records is NRS 239. It was revised extensively in the 2007 session. The main change is that agencies now have five business days to respond to a request for a public record.

nevada links


Nevada Legislature




Nevada Supreme Court




Nevada state government





AG’s Open Meeting Law page




 

Questions for candidates


    Here are some questions to ask candidates prior to the upcoming elections.

    Publishers, editors and editorial boards should know where state and local candidates stand on open-government issues. It may be the deciding factor for whether to endorse a candidate.


  1. ‣    Are there any circumstances under which a public body might better serve its constituents by meeting privately rather than in an open meeting?


  1. ‣    Do you favor the printing of public notices in newspapers? Are there categories of public notices you believe should be published only on the Internet?


  1. ‣    Do you consider emails written by elected officials or public employees on government-owned computers to be private, or open to public inspection? How about text-messages or phone calls on government-owned phones?


  1. ‣    What should be the penalty for a public body or elected officials who violate Nevada’s Open Meetings Law?


  1. ‣    What factors should take priority in balancing individual privacy with openness in government?


  1. ‣    Because cost can be a barrier to openness in government, how much of the expense of retrieving public records, for example, should be borne by the person who requests them and how much by the government agency that holds them?


  1. ‣    Should the Nevada Legislature be able to exempt itself from the Open Meetings Law?


  1. ‣    How would you make collective-bargain negotiations between government and public-employee unions more transparent to the public?


  1. ‣    Should evaluations of city managers, county managers and school superintendents be conducted in open or in private?


  1. ‣    At what stage in the process should complaints against building contractors be available for the public to read — as soon as they are filed, after a preliminary investigation to determine if the complaint has merit, or after a full investigation when a formal violation has been charged?


  1. ‣    For judge candidates: Are there circumstances under which you would consider closing a hearing to the public?