Opinion: No legal notice required for reconvened meeting
From the
PNA Legal
Hotline
By Teri
Henning, General Counsel
and Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania
Newspaper
Association
Q: A school board meeting ran
long and as a result, the board recessed the
meeting for one week. Does the Sunshine Act
require the school board to place a legal notice
in our paper stating the date, time and place of
the reconvened meeting?
A: No. The Sunshine Act does not require a public
notice advertisement in this situation.
The Sunshine Act requires agencies to provide at
least 24 hours advance notice in a newspaper of
general circulation of the date, time, and place
of public meetings. However, when an agency has
recessed or reconvened a public meeting that has
already been properly advertised, the law
requires an agency to post notice of the place,
date and time of the meeting prominently at the
principal office of the agency or at the public
building in which the meeting is to be held, at
least 24 hours in advance of the reconvened
meeting.
Note also, that under Section 709(c) of the
Sunshine Act, any member of the public can
request individual, mailed notice from an agency
by providing the agency with a stamped,
self-addressed envelope prior to the meeting. In
the case of a recessed or reconvened meeting, the
agency must provide this notice, if properly
requested, as well.
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association attorneys provide member newspapers with advice on government access issues.