Petitioner filed actions under the Georgia Open and Public Meetings Act. As one basis for her claims, petitioner argued that the Act required the City’s minutes were deficient because they failed to list persons present during executive sessions. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment for the City. The Court of Appeals concluded that the minutes need not list those present at the executive session.
The Act requires:
[w]hen any meeting of an agency is closed to the public pursuant to any provision of this chapter, the specific reasons for such closure shall be entered upon the official minutes, the meeting shall not be closed to the public except by a majority vote of a quorum present for the meeting, the minutes shall reflect the names of the members present and the names of those voting for closure, and that part of the minutes shall be made available to the public as any other minutes.
While the statute does reference a list of members present, the context of the statute suggests the minutes need not state those present in executive sessions, but rather should refer to members present at the time of the vote to proceed to executive session.
Corkren v. Maynard, — Ga. App. –, A24A1812, 2025 WL 761050 (Mar. 11, 2025).
