Opinion Number

Dear Mr. Gladney:

You have requested the opinion of this office as to whether a committee appointed by the Mayor of the City of Bastrop is a "public body" within the meaning of R.S. 42:4.2(2). It is our understanding that this committee is composed of private citizens and has been furnished with information regarding the city's financial affairs which is available to the public through the Public Records Act. The purpose of this committee is to study this information and come up with a recommendation as to whether the City has sufficient funds to raise salaries for its employees. The Mayor, Mayor-Pro-Tem, City Attorney and City Auditor are ex-officio members of the committee. Their purpose is to give advice to the committee when requested. The committee's report will be made to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen at an open meeting, after which the committee will dissolve itself.

The public policy of the State of Louisiana in favor of open meetings is set forth in R.S. 42:4.1, which provides that:

"It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner and that citizens be advised of and aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy. Toward this end, the provisions of R.S. 42:4.1 through R.S. 42:10
shall be construed liberally.

In furtherance of this policy, R.S. 42:5 requires that every meeting of any public body shall be open to the public unless closed pursuant to R.S. 42:6 and R.S. 42:6.1.

A meeting is defined as the convening of a quorum of a public body to deliberate or act on a matter over which the public body as an entity has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. R.S. 42:4.2 A(1). The term public body means:

"[V]illage, town, and city governing authorities; parish governing authorities; school boards, and boards of levee and port commissioners; boards of publicly operated utilities; planning, zoning, and airport commissions; and any other state, parish, municipal, or special district boards, commissions, or authorities, and those of any political subdivision thereof, where such body possesses policy making, advisory, or administrative functions, including any committee or subcommittee or any of these bodies enumerated in this Paragraph. "Public body" shall not include the legislature."

R.S. 42:4.2 A(2).

This office is of the opinion that the committee appointed by the Mayor of the City of Bastrop is a public body and its meetings should therefore be open to the public. This committee is appointed by the chief executive of a political subdivision of the State and has been granted policy making and advisory functions in the extremely important area of public finance. It is not unlike a board or commission which is created by ordinance but which does not have the authority to bind the executive of governing body of the political subdivision which created it. Although the committee is appointed by the Mayor, in function it can be classified as a subcommittee of the municipal governing body.

Since the deliberations of the committee will constitute an element of the formulation of public policy, the purpose and intent of the Louisiana Open Meeting Law could be frustrated if committee meetings are closed to the public. Accordingly, it is our conclusion that this committee should meet in public so that interested citizens can have the benefit of deliberations and decisions, which could have a profound effect on the public policy of the City of Bastrop.

If we can be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Attorney General

By: RONALD C. DAVIS

Attachment

OPINION NUMBER 89-481

DECEMBER 14, 1989

90-B-4 — Public Meetings

The Committee of 25 private citizens to advise the Mayor on revisions of the City Charter, is subject to the open meetings law.

Okla Jones, II, Esq. City Attorney City of New Orleans City Hall New Orleans, La. 70112

Dear Mr. Jones:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General. Your question, as I understand it, is as follows:

Is the Committee of 25, a private citizen's advisory committee appointed by the Mayor in order to offer advice on possible revisions of the City Charter, subject to compliance with the Open Meetings Law?

As noted by this office in Atty. Gen. Op. No. 82-671, the Open Meetings law applies to all "public bodies", but the obvious question is what is encompassed in the term. Therein it was stated the term includes any committee or sub-committee of a state board so long as the committee possesses "policy making,advisory or administrative functions." R.S. 42:4.2. In conclusion, it was stated, "If the council is strictly a discussion group which makes no policy suggestions and gives no advice to the board it may not fall within the Open Meetings Law; however, the Board should note that the Legislature expressly provided that the Open Meeting Law should be liberally construed
and thus, if the committee does advise the Board in any way the committee's meetings should comply with the open meeting law."

Of similar import is Atty. Gen. Op. 79-1392 in regard to a committee of private citizens appointed by the Mayor of the City of Bastrop to study the financial affairs of the City and make recommendations on the possibility of salary increases. Therein it was concluded that the committee was a public body and its meeting should be open to the public reasoning its function can be classified as a subcommittee of the municipal governing body. Further it was observed since the deliberations will constitute an element of the formulation of public policy, the intent of the Open Meetings Law could be frustrated if the committee meetings are closed to the public. Accordingly, it was concluded the committee should meet in public so that interested citizens can have the benefit of deliberations and decisions which could have a profound effect on the public policy of the City.

We find no reason to reach a different conclusion in the instant case. If the pertinent portion of R.S. 42:4.2 is read wherein "public body" is defined it states that "public body" means, in addition to any village, town and city governing authorities, "any other state, parish, municipal, or special district boards, commissions, or authorities, * * * including any committee or subcommittee of any of these bodies enumerated in this paragraph." It would appear a committee appointed by the mayor as chief executive officer would by this definition be a subcommittee of a municipal authority and a "public body" and we do not feel a committee appointed by the mayor should be treated any differently than that appointed by the council. Moreover, this conclusion finds support in the mandate of the legislature in R.S. 42:4.1 that the Open Meetings Law be liberally construed and to find otherwise would be in contravention of this directive.

Under this liberal construction the Mayor would constitute the "public body" which established the private citizens advisory group and as such would be obliged under the dictates of R.S. 42:6.1(D) to comply with the provisions of R.S. 42:7 in providing the required notice of meeting of such group or committee.

Therefore, based upon a reading of the Open Meetings Law with this mandate in mind and earlier opinions of this office, it must be concluded that the meetings of the Committee of 25 are subject to being open to the public inasmuch as they are a committee of the mayor who are to meet to deliberate over the City Charter in order to advise on possible revisions.

We hope this sufficiently answers your question, but if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Your very truly,

WILLIAM J. GUSTE, JR. Attorney General

BY: BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE Assistant Attorney General

Dear Mr. Jones:

Your request for an Attorney General's opinion has been forwarded to me for research and response.

Specifically, you ask the following question:

Are citizen committees established and appointed by the Mayor for discussion, research, and advice subject to the Open Meetings Law?

The pertinent statutes are as follows:

La. R.S. 42:4.2 Definitions

A. For the purposes of R.S. 42:1 through R.S. 42:12:

(2) "Public body" means village, town, and city governing authorities; parish governing authorities; school boards and boards of levee and port commissioners; boards of publicly operated utilities; planning, zoning, and airport commissions; and any other state, parish, municipal, or special district boards, commissions, or authorities, and those of any political subdivision thereof, where such body possesses policy making, advisory, or administrative functions, including any committee or subcommittee of any of these bodies enumerated in this paragraph.

La. R.S. 42:5 Meetings of public bodies to be open to the public

A. Every meeting of any public body shall be open to the public unless closed pursuant to R.S. 42:6, R.S. 42:6.1, or R.S. 42:6.2.

We refer you to Attorney General's Opinions 79-1392 and 89-481 which are attached. The questions posed in these opinions are whether a committee appointed by a mayor is a "public body" within the meaning of La. R.S. 42:4.2(2) and whether an advisory committee appointed by a Mayor is required to comply with the Open Meetings Law. An affirmative answer was given to both of these questions.

We believe the reasoning applied in those situations is also applicable in yours. First, the committees you describe are "public bodies" since the term includes any committee or subcommittee of a municipal authority which possesses policy making, advisory or administrative functions. You stated that the Mayor's committees were established to give advice. Since this is one of the requirements of a public body, the definition of La. R.S. 42:4.2(2) is met.

Second, La. R.S. 42:5(A), which is a part of the Open Meetings Law, requires that every meeting of a public body shall be open to the public unless closed pursuant to R.S. 42:6, R.S. 42:6.1 or R.S. 42:6.2. Therefore, meetings of the committees you describe are required to comply with the Open Meetings Law, unless the meeting falls within one of the exceptions listed above.

In summary, it remains the opinion of this office that committees appointed by the mayor of a municipality are "public bodies" and, as such, are required to comply with the Open Meetings Law.

If we can be of further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: FRANCES E. JONES Assistant Attorney General

Attachment

OPINION NUMBER 79-1392

DECEMBER 14, 1979

90-B-4 Public Meetings — State and Local Governing Board 61 — Laws — General. . . .

R.S. 42:4.2(A) R.S. 42:4.1 to R.S. 42:10

A citizens committee appointed by the Mayor of a municipality to study inform and advise the Mayor and Board of Aldermen on a matter of public finance is a public body*

* body within the meaning of R. .2(A) and its meeting should to the public.

Mr. Charles G. Gladney City Attorney 127 East Madison Avenue P.O. Box 1136 Bastrop, Louisiana 71220