Open Meetings

Any body that meets the following characteristics is deemed a “public body.” 

• Committee, council, or other body established by the UNC Board of Governors; 

• It is established by or at the direction of the Chancellor and/or a Vice Chancellor; 

• The membership does not consist exclusively of administrative officers of the University; 

• It is composed of two or more members; 

• Its designated function or subject-matter jurisdiction is University-wide; and 

• It is expressly authorized or directed-- 

• to legislate, make policy, adjudicate, or take administrative action, or 

• to make findings concerning or to recommend legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, or administrative action. 

An “official meeting” is a meeting at any time or place, including by telephone conference or other electronic means, when a majority of the members of a public body are communicating for the purpose of conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business. Informal gatherings may not be used to evade the law. However, an “official” meeting of a public body does not occur if it is a meeting solely among the professional staff of a public body. 

The public body must provide public notice of official meetings. The type and timing of public notice that must be given coincides with the type of official meeting that is held. 

The chair or other principal officer of a public body is responsible for giving notice of all official meetings to the Office of University Relations. The Office of University Relations handles all public notice requests after the responsible officer or designee delivers the regular schedule, revised schedule, or notice of special or emergency meetings. 

If the public body’s meetings are regularly scheduled on an annual or semi-annual basis, the meetings are considered “regular.” The public notice requirements for a regular meeting include: (1) maintaining a list of pre-scheduled meetings showing the date, time, and place of each regular meeting, (2) the chair or responsible officer or designee maintains this list, (3) the list is posted on the appropriate university’s website, and (4) any revisions to the schedule must be completed at least seven (7) days before the rescheduled meeting or first meeting to which the new schedule applies. 

If the public body does not have a schedule of regular meetings, its meetings are considered “special” meetings, and the responsible officer must file written notice of the date, time, place, and purpose of each meeting with the Office of University Relations in order to provide public notice of the meeting at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.  

An “emergency” meeting is one that is called because of unexpected circumstances that require immediate consideration by the public body. The responsible officer must notify the members of the public body and the Office of University Relations immediately after the need for an emergency meeting is determined.  For an emergency meeting, the Office of University Relations will give public notice to those news services that have filed written requests for emergency notice, either by telephone or by the same method used to notify the members of the public body. If a public body holds a meeting by conference call or other electronic means, the notice must provide a location and means for members of the public to listen to the meeting. 

All public bodies must keep full and accurate minutes of all official meetings, including any closed sessions. They must also keep a “general account” of all closed sessions “so that a person not in attendance would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired.” The minutes and accounts may be written or by audio or video recordings. As soon as the minutes and accounts of a meeting are approved, deliver the official copy to the Office of the Provost.

Minutes and accounts of closed sessions are not open to public inspection if disclosing them “. . . would frustrate the purpose” of the closed session. However, when the purpose of the closed session has been accomplished, inspection of the minutes and general account must be allowed unless they include privileged or confidential information under state or federal law.  

To go into a closed session, a motion specifically identifying the legal basis for meeting in closed session must properly be made and adopted at the open meeting. See the fill-in-the-blank Motion to Go into Closed Session Reference Guide and the list of the legal citations most commonly used to support meeting in closed session. 

At the conclusion of the closed session, there must be a motion to go back into open session prior to adjourning the meeting. A motion to adjourn is invalid if it is made in closed session. 

Any questions about the appropriateness of agenda items for open meeting or closed session discussion should be discussed with the Office of Legal Affairs prior to any meeting to make sure that there is no violation of the Open Meetings law. 

Closed sessions may be held for the following permitted purposes only: 

• to discuss information privileged or confidential pursuant to State or Federal law; 

• to discuss honorary degrees, scholarships, or prizes; 

• to consult with an attorney and to preserve the attorney-client privilege; 

• to discuss the location or expansion of industries or businesses; 

• to discuss real property acquisition (other than by gift or bequest) and employment contracts; 

• to discuss personnel matters; or 

• to discuss alleged criminal misconduct. 

Minutes provide a record of actions taken; they do not have to specify positions taken by each member. A general account provides a record (summary) of the discussion. A public body must always prepare a general account of a closed session. 

Minutes are not required if no action is taken. However, there must be a record that the meeting took place. 

Public bodies may act or vote by written ballots only if: 

(1) the ballots are signed by the individual voters; 

(2) the minutes of the meeting show the vote of each member voting; and  

(3) the ballots are available for public inspection immediately following the meeting at which the vote took place.  

Written ballots can be discarded after the minutes of that meeting are approved; the minutes must include the action taken by each member. 

A public body may deliberate, vote, or otherwise take action by reference to a designated letter or number on the agenda only if copies of the agenda, sufficiently worded to enable the public to understand what is being acted upon, are available for inspection at the meeting. 

A consent agenda (Roberts Rules of Order calls it a consent calendar) is a tool used to streamline meeting procedures by collecting routine, non-controversial items into a group whereby all are passed with a single motion and vote. A consent agenda allows the public body to approve all these items together without discussion or individual motions. Referring to “consent agenda” items is the same as voting by reference. 

Typical consent agenda items are routine, procedural decisions, and decisions that are likely to be noncontroversial. Examples include: 

• Approval of the minutes; 

• Final approval of proposals or reports that the public body has been dealing with for some time and all members are familiar with the implications; 

• Routine matters such as appointments to committees; 

• Staff appointments requiring public body confirmation; 

• Reports provided for information only; 

• Correspondence requiring no action. 

A consent agenda can only work if the reports and other matters for the meeting agenda are known in advance and distributed with the agenda package in sufficient time to be read by all members prior to the meeting. A typical procedure is as follows: 

• When preparing the meeting agenda, the chair or responsible officer determines whether an item belongs on the consent agenda. 

• The chair or responsible officer prepares a numbered list of the consent items as part of, or as an attachment to the meeting agenda. 

• The list and supporting documents are included in the public body’s agenda package in sufficient time to be read by all members prior to the meeting. 

• At the beginning of the meeting, the chair or responsible officer asks members what items, if any, they wish to be removed from the consent agenda and discussed individually. 

• If any member requests that an item be removed from the consent agenda, it must be removed. Members may request that an item be removed for any reason. They may wish, for example, to discuss the item, to query the item, or to register a vote against the item. 

• Once it has been removed, the chair or responsible officer can decide whether to take up the matter immediately or place it on the regular meeting agenda. 

• When there are no more items to be removed, the chair or responsible officer or secretary reads out the numbers of the remaining consent items. Then the chair or responsible officer states: “If there is no objection, these items will be adopted.” After pausing for any objections, the chair or responsible officer states “As there are no objections, these items are adopted.” It is not necessary to ask for a show of hands. 

• When preparing the minutes, the Secretary includes the full text of the resolutions, reports or recommendations that were adopted as part of the consent agenda. 

Any person may broadcast or record those parts of a meeting required to be open; however, the public body can prevent interference with the meeting and may reasonably regulate placement and use of recording equipment. The Office of University Relations can assist with these matters. 

If a person willfully interrupts or disturbs an official meeting and refuses to leave after being directed to leave by the presiding officer, call the University Police Department for assistance. It may be necessary to adjourn the meeting. 

Any person who objects can file a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief. The court can declare any action taken during the meeting to be null and void, and may award reasonable attorney’s fees. If the court finds that any individual member(s) of the public body knowingly or intentionally violated the Open Meetings Law, it may order that the member or members pay personally all or any portion of the objecting party’s attorney’s fees, unless the member(s) consulted with an attorney and were following the attorney’s advice when the violation occurred.