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SUBJECTS › LEGAL › Attorney General Opinions - Open Public Meetings Act

Attorney General Opinions - Open Public Meetings Act

Updated:  March 2006

  • AGO 1971 No. 33

    Discussion regarding the basic principles of the Open Meetings Act, and response to specific questions posed by state legislators.

  • AGO 1986 No. 16

    A committee “acts on behalf of the governing body” only when it exercises delegated authority, such as fact finding.

  • AGO 1998 No. 15

    A governing body does not have authority to ban video or sound recording of a meeting required to be open under the Act; it may regulate recording only to the extent necessary to preserve order at the meeting and facilitate public attendance.

  • AGO 2006 No. 6

    The presence of a quorum of the members of a city or county council at a meeting not called by the council does not, in itself, make the meeting a “public meeting” of that council for purposes of the Open Public Meetings Act; the Open Public Meetings Act would apply if the council members took any “action” as defined in RCW 42.30 at the meeting, such as voting, deliberating together, or using the meeting as a source of public testimony for council action.