If a North Dakota board posts notice of a phone meeting on its Facebook page and website, is that enough?

Plain-English summary

The Lake Region District Health Board created an interview committee for the administrator position. All five committee members happened to be members of the full board, which made the committee a meeting of the full board for open meetings purposes. The committee held a special phone meeting to discuss whether one of the applicants could continue serving on the county commission while sitting on the health board.

For notice, the committee posted the meeting on the board's Facebook page and the board website. It did not post the notice at the principal office of the board, did not notify the official newspaper, and did not publish the call-in information that any member of the public would need to actually join the phone meeting.

The AG found three notice failures rolled into one violation:

1. Missing principal-office posting (required by § 44-04-20(4)).
2. Missing newspaper notification for the special meeting (required by § 44-04-20(6)).
3. Missing public-access information for the phone meeting (an implied notice element: a notice without the call-in details effectively excludes the public).

Posting on Facebook and the website is fine as an additional channel, but those channels do not substitute for the statutory minimums.

What this means for you

If you serve on a North Dakota public health board or use sub-committees made up of board members

The opinion holds that the Lake Region District Health Board's interview committee, composed of five board members, was a meeting subject to the same open meetings notice obligations as the full board. The opinion treats the notice posted to the Board's Facebook page and website as insufficient because it did not also satisfy the statutory requirements of posting at the principal office and notifying the official newspaper for the special meeting.

If you administer notice for a phone or remote meeting

The opinion holds that the notice was deficient because it did not include the information necessary for the public to join the call. The AG treats the omission of access information as preventing public attendance.

If you submitted an opinion request alleging a deficient special-meeting notice

The opinion concluded the Board violated the open meetings laws based on the missing principal-office posting (N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20(4)), the missing newspaper notification (§ 44-04-20(6)), and the missing public-access information for the phone meeting.

Common questions

Q: When does a "committee" trigger full open-meetings rules?
A: Two paths. First, if the committee is a "public entity" itself under § 44-04-17.1 (created by law, public funding, etc.), it is subject directly. Second, even if the committee is informal, if it is composed entirely or mostly of board members so that a quorum of the full body is present, the committee meeting is effectively a meeting of the full body.

Q: Is Facebook posting ever required?
A: No. The statute does not require Facebook. It is a permissible additional channel. The required channels are the principal office, the meeting location, the newspaper (for special meetings), and anyone with a personal-notice request on file.

Q: For a phone or Zoom meeting, what counts as "the meeting location"?
A: The AG treats the call-in or join information as functionally the location. A notice that omits the dial-in details denies the public the ability to attend, which is the essence of the open meetings rule. Best practice: list both a physical location (often the principal office) and the remote-access details.

Q: Can we cure a notice defect by holding a do-over meeting?
A: Sometimes. If the board re-notices and re-holds the meeting with proper notice, the AG will generally consider that an adequate cure. If the meeting is one-time-only (an interview, a property auction), the cure is to publish the minutes and any other memorialization free of charge to anyone who asks.

Q: What if our newspaper has shut down?
A: The statute looks for the "official newspaper" of the city or county. If that paper has ceased operation, the entity should formally designate a successor at its next regular meeting and confirm with the relevant county or city auditor. In the interim, post broadly and document the effort.

Background and statutory framework

Section 44-04-19 declares meetings open by default. Section 44-04-20 sets out the layered notice rules:

• Subsection (1): notice required before all meetings.
• Subsection (2): content of notice (date, time, location, topics, expected executive session subject matter).
• Subsection (4): posting locations.
• Subsection (5): personal notice to anyone who has asked, effective for one year.
• Subsection (6): special meetings get additional newspaper and news media notification.

Phone and video meetings sit on top of this framework. The AG has consistently read the statute to require functional public access: a notice without call-in details does not satisfy the law because it effectively closes the meeting.

The Lake Region opinion fits the broader pattern that 2018-O-28, 2022-O-06 (Williston Parks), and many others reinforce: special meetings require more notice, not less, and committees composed of board members are not a workaround.

Citations

• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-17.1 (definitions including "meeting" and "public entity")
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-19 (meetings open by default)
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20(2), (4), (6) (notice content, posting locations, special-meeting notification)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/special-meeting-notice-requirements/

Original opinion text

Full opinion text unavailable from the official source. See the linked landing page above for the official summary.

The landing page reports:

Request: Did the Lake Region District Health Board violate the open meetings law by failing to properly notice a special meeting of a committee?

Conclusion: The Lake Region District Health Board created a committee to conduct interviews for the administrator position. All five people on the committee were board members. The committee held a special meeting by phone to discuss whether an applicant could continue to be a member of the county commission while serving on the board. The committee posted the notice on the Board's Facebook page and website, but did not post it at the principal office, provide notice to the official newspaper, or include the information necessary for the public to join the call. Therefore, the Board violated the open meetings laws.