Opinion: Pre-registration for public comment at meetings unreasonable
From the
PNA Legal
Hotline
By Teri
Henning, General Counsel
and Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania
Newspaper Association
Q: A new township policy requires anyone
wishing to give public comment at a public
meeting to sign up three days in advance and
register the topics they will discuss. If you
don’t preregister, you can’t speak at the
meeting. Is this OK?
A: The policy described is problematic from a
public access standpoint because it creates
serious Sunshine Act issues.
The public participation provision of the
Sunshine Act, section 710.1, requires agencies to
permit a reasonable opportunity for public
comment on “matters of concern, official action
or deliberation which are or may be before the
board or council prior to taking official
action.” This provision is very broad and its
goal is to permit and encourage public
participation.
The Act does allow agencies to create reasonable
rules and regulations to govern the conduct of
public meetings.
However, a policy that restricts public comment
to those that are able to pre-register three days
in advance of a meeting is not, in our view, a
reasonable regulation. At a minimum, it raises
questions about when the agenda is available for
public review.
If the agenda is not publicly distributed more
than three days in advance of the meeting, an
interested member of the public would not have a
reasonable opportunity to comment. Similarly, if
a board takes up a new issue at a meeting, an
interested member of the public would have no
opportunity to address it under this policy.
The Sunshine Act is designed to allow the public
to witness and participate in the formation of
public policy. The policy described presents a
barrier to access and discourages public
participation. Although the courts have not
interpreted a similar policy, it is the PNA’s
opinion that a policy such as this is
unreasonable and therefore an inappropriate
regulation pursuant to the Sunshine Act.
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association attorneys provide member newspapers with advice on government access issues.