Maine Revised Statutes
Subchapter 1: FREEDOM OF ACCESS
1 §403. Meetings to be open to public; record of meetings

§403. Meetings to be open to public; record of meetings
1. Proceedings open to public. Except as otherwise provided by statute or by section 405, all public proceedings must be open to the public and any person must be permitted to attend a public proceeding.
[PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
2. Record of public proceedings. Unless otherwise provided by law, a record of each public proceeding for which notice is required under section 406 must be made within a reasonable period of time after the proceeding and must be open to public inspection. At a minimum, the record must include:
A. The date, time and place of the public proceeding; [PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
B. The members of the body holding the public proceeding recorded as either present or absent; and [PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
C. All motions and votes taken, by individual member, if there is a roll call. [PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
[PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
3. Audio or video recording. An audio, video or other electronic recording of a public proceeding satisfies the requirements of subsection 2.
[PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
4. Maintenance of record. Record management requirements and retention schedules adopted under Title 5, chapter 6 apply to records required under this section.
[PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
5. Validity of action. The validity of any action taken in a public proceeding is not affected by the failure to make or maintain a record as required by this section.
[PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
6. Advisory bodies exempt from record requirements. Subsection 2 does not apply to advisory bodies that make recommendations but have no decision-making authority.
[PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1969, c. 293 (AMD). PL 1975, c. 422, §1 (AMD). PL 1975, c. 758 (RPR). PL 2009, c. 240, §1 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 320, Pt. C, §1 (RPR).