Citizen Access to Government
West Virginia's law requiring meetings of governing bodies
be open to the public has grown
stronger since it was first enacted in 1975. The Legislature has
revised the Open Governmental Proceedings Act four times, with
extensive revisions in 1999 to
ensure that governing
bodies do not exclude citizens from their deliberations and their
actions. Although the Act has exceptions allowing executive sessions for
governing bodies to discuss individual personnel, law enforcement, contract and some
legal matters, the premise of the Act is that decisions affecting the public
are made in the open, and not behind closed doors.
Which Governing Bodies are Covered?
State, county, and municipal administrative and legislative
bodies are required to comply with the Open Governmental Proceedings Act.
Other organizations, such as state policy committees and public
corporations, may be required to comply if the organization meets the
definition of "public agency" in the Act, or if the law specifies
a body is subject to the Act. Private
foundations and organizations are usually not covered by the Act, even
though the organization may serve the public.
The Handbook (see below) includes interpretations of the
term "public agency" based on the law and on court
decisions.
The 1999 revisions to the Act created the "West Virginia
Ethics Commission Committee on Open Governmental Meetings" as a
three-member sub-committee of the Ethics Commission. A governing
body or governing body member may request an advisory opinion regarding the application of
the Act to their organization from this committee. For more
information, contact the Ethics
Commission.
Meeting Notices
All bodies covered by the Open Governmental Proceedings Act are required to
give public notice of their meetings. Local governing bodies give
notice through the media and by posting, but state governing bodies must
give notice through the State Register. See About
Meetings for more information on the requirements for publication
in the State Register.
Official Interpretation & The Open Meetings Act
The Attorney General is required to prepare a summary and
interpretation of the Open Meetings Act and to compile the statutory and
case law related to the Act.
The Secretary of State must distribute the handbook prepared
by the Attorney General to
county and municipal governing bodies, and they in turn are required to
provide each member with a copy.
Requests for advisory opinions and interpretation of
the Act should be directed to the WV
Ethics Commission Committee on Open Governmental Meetings, which is
charged with interpreting the requirements of the Act in specific
circumstances.
See the Attorney General's summary, interpretation and the Act here in web format
or using the
Acrobat Reader. The case and code citations are only available in the
Acrobat version. For information about how to download and use the free
reader, see Acrobat Reader Help.
