Open Public Meetings Act

The state Open Public Meetings Act requires that all meetings of governing bodies of public agencies, including cities and counties, be open and accessible to the public. A meeting generally includes any situation in which a majority of a city council, board of county commissioners, or other governing body (including certain kinds of committees) meets and discusses the business of that body. In order to be valid, ordinances, resolutions, rules, regulations, orders, and directives must be adopted at public meetings. The Act contains specific provisions regarding: regular and special meetings; executive sessions; types of notice that must be given for meetings; conduct of meetings; and penalties and remedies for violation of the Act.

For an in-depth discussion of the Act, see the MRSC publication entitled The Open Public Meetings Act: How it Applies to Washington Cities and Counties ( 424kb), updated in June 2004. MRSC also has a publication dealing with basic legal guidelines for municipal officials called Knowing the Territory ( 510kb) that discusses the purpose of the Open Public Meetings Act and its application to Washington cities and counties. 

Reference Sources

• Statutes
• Selected Court Decisions
• Attorney General Opinions
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Documents

• The Open Public Meetings Act: How it Applies to Washington Cities and Counties, June 2004 ( 424kb).

• Knowing the Territory, MRSC Report No. 47, January 2002 ( 510kb).

• Open Government Internet Manual, prepared with the oversight of the Attorney General's Office (and some help from Bob Meinig, MRSC Legal Consultant). This is an excellent overview of both subject areas. We anticipate that this web publication will be periodically updated. The manual is an excellent resource for local government officials and attorneys.

• "Public Hearings - When and How to Hold them," by Bob Meinig, MRSC Focus Paper, August 1998.

• "Applicability of the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act to E-mail Exchanges," ( 429kb) by Phil Olbrechts, Ogden Murphy Wallace, August 15, 2001.
• "The Open Public Meetings Act and Electronic Communications," by Ramsey Ramerman, Foster Pepper, PLLC, December 2006.