The Mississippi Open Meetings Act provides that “the formation and determination of public policy is public business and shall be conducted in open meetings.” Notwithstanding this command, some public boards in Mississippi had developed a policy of discussing public business—but not formally acting on any issues—in so-called “non-quorum” meetings, which are closed to the public. That practice, also called a “rolling quorum” or “walking quorum,” is no longer permissible in Mississippi.
In a victory for advocates of government transparency, the Mississippi Supreme Court declared this non-quorum meeting practice illegal. Going forward, public bodies in Mississippi, and attorneys who advise them, must take care that their board members do not conduct business at a private non-quorum meeting that is prearranged and non-social in nature. Violations of this rule can give rise to fines of up to $1,000 and require the public body to pay the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) of any person who successfully pursues a complaint against the body.
The Mississippi Supreme Court’s Ruling: Prearranged “non-quorum” meetings that are held for the purpose of discussing public business must be open to the public.In City of Columbus v. The Commercial Dispatch, a newspaper challenged the City of Columbus’s practice of dividing city council members into small groups—less than a quorum of the six-member board—to discuss city business in a series of non-quorum meetings. These “non-quorum” or “sub-quorum” meetings were all prearranged by city officials for the purpose of permitting a closed-door discussion of sensitive economic development issues. The city excluded the public from these non-quorum meetings on the premise that the Open Meetings Act applied only when a quorum of the board was present for a meeting at which “official acts may be taken.”
The newspaper filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission, the state body that enforces the Open Meetings Act, and the commission ruled the practice to be in violation of the Open Meetings Act, Miss. Code § 25-41-1 et seq. The commission ordered the city to cease its non-quorum meetings; the chancery court affirmed the commission’s ruling, and the city appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Relying on the “philosophy and spirit of the Act,” as well as its plain language, the Supreme Court declared that the practice of conducting prearranged closed-door, non-quorum meetings for the purpose of considering public business violates the Open Meetings Act. The...
