ND 2025-O-03 2025-03-06

Does a North Dakota city council have to put the meeting location on its public notices, even when meetings always happen in the same place?

Short answer: Yes. Location is a 'material element' of meeting notice under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20. Habit cannot substitute. Special meetings must also be noticed to the local newspaper.

Disclaimer: This is an official North Dakota Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed North Dakota attorney for advice on your specific situation.

Plain-English summary

The Great Bend City Council holds its regular meetings on the third Tuesday of the month at the Fire Hall, year after year. The City Auditor figured everyone knows that, so she stopped putting the meeting location on the public notices for August 16 and September 20, 2022. The notices listed the date, time, and agenda, but no address. The City also held a special meeting on September 27, 2022, that omitted the location and was never sent to the local newspaper.

AG Drew Wrigley said all three notices violated open meetings law.

The location is "a material element" of public notice. Even when meetings always happen in the same place, that place must appear on each notice. The opinion quotes the AG's earlier conclusion: "the fact that a meeting regularly occurs at the same place does not excuse the [public entity's] responsibility to include the location on the meeting notice." Substantial compliance with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20 requires it.

The September 27 special meeting had a second problem. Under § 44-04-20(5), notice of a special meeting must go to the public entity's official newspaper and to any media representatives who have requested to be notified. The City admitted it never sent the notice to the newspaper.

The City Auditor's argument that "the only place to hold a meeting within the city is at the Fire Hall, and meetings have been held there for many years" did not work as a defense. The statute requires the location on each notice individually, not in the collective memory of the community.

What this means for you

If you're a city council, township board, or special district trustee

Put the location on every meeting notice. Always. Even if you've met in the same room for forty years. The opinion is unequivocal: a notice without a location does not substantially comply with the statute. Audit your standing notice templates today and make sure each one has the address.

For special meetings, do not skip the newspaper. § 44-04-20(5) requires sending special meeting notice to the entity's official newspaper. If you have media representatives who have asked to be on the notice list, they get notice too. Skipping either piece is a separate violation.

If you're a citizen who suspects a public entity is not properly noticing meetings

You can file a request for an AG opinion under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1. The office reviews specific facts and issues a published opinion. If the opinion finds a violation, the entity must take corrective action; if it doesn't, it can lose legal immunity for civil damages.

Document what you find: the notice itself (or the lack of one), where it was posted, and whether you can establish from the agenda alone what the meeting was about and where to find it.

If you're an attorney advising a small city or special district

This opinion is a useful lever in any internal compliance review. Ask the auditor to pull the last six months of meeting notices and check that each lists location, date, time, and agenda. If your client has a website, check that meeting notices are also posted there (the 2023 amendment to § 44-04-20(5) made website posting mandatory for cities with websites).

Common questions

Q: What about emergency meetings?
A: Emergency meetings are governed by § 44-04-20 with even tighter requirements. They also require notice to the official newspaper and to media representatives who have asked to be notified.

Q: We post notices on the door of the meeting venue. Is that enough?
A: For regular meetings, the statute requires the notice be posted "at the principal office of the governing body, if one exists, and at the location of the meeting on the day of the meeting." For city councils specifically, notice must also be filed with the city auditor and (since 2023) posted on the city's website if one exists. Posting on the door is necessary but not sufficient.

Q: What if the location is obvious from local knowledge?
A: The opinion specifically rejects this argument. The notice must include the location regardless of whether the location is well-known.

Q: Is the meeting itself void if the notice is defective?
A: This opinion finds a violation but does not declare the underlying actions void. Remedies for notice violations are statutory and depend on circumstances. A public entity that ignores AG opinions risks losing legal immunity in subsequent civil litigation.

Citations

N.D.C.C. § 44-04-19, open meetings declaration
N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20, notice requirements
N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20(2), required contents of notice
N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20(4), posting locations
N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20(5), special meeting notice to newspaper
N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1: citizen request for AG opinion

Source

Original opinion text

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
Drew H. Wrigley, ATTORNEY GENERAL

OPEN RECORDS AND MEETINGS OPINION 2025-O-03
DATE ISSUED: March 6, 2025
ISSUED TO: City of Great Bend

CITIZEN'S REQUEST FOR OPINION

Guy Otto requested an opinion from this office under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 asking whether the City of Great Bend violated N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20 by failing to properly notice city council meetings.

FACTS PRESENTED

The Great Bend City Council (City Council) is composed of four council members and a mayor. It holds regularly scheduled meetings on the third Tuesday of the month at the Great Bend Rural Fire Protection District Hall (Fire Hall). The City Council usually posts its meeting notices on the Fire Hall door and on the mailbox cluster in town a week in advance of the meeting. The City also has a community bulletin board on a small shop building. However, that building is not an office or city hall, and no meetings or business is conducted there. The City Auditor informed this office that the only place to hold a meeting within the city is at the Fire Hall, and City Council meetings have been held there for many years.

The City Council held two regular meetings at the Fire Hall on August 16, 2022, and September 20, 2022. The notices for the meetings included the date, time, and agendas with topics for discussion, but the notices did not include the location of the meetings and did not identify the City Council as the entity holding the meetings. According to the City Auditor, the notices were posted on the Fire Hall door and on the mailbox cluster. The City Council did not post the notices on the community bulletin board. The City does not have a website, and all notices are filed with the City Auditor.

The City Council held a special meeting at the Fire Hall on September 27, 2022. The special meeting notice included the date, time, and an agenda indicating the meeting was to discuss the application for a local permit for the medical benefit. The notice did not include the location of the meeting. Notice of the special meeting was posted on the Fire Hall door and on the mailbox cluster and was filed with the City Auditor. In response to this office's inquiry, the City Auditor indicated that the local newspaper was not notified about the special meeting.

ISSUE

Whether the Great Bend City Council properly noticed its August 16, 2022, September 20, 2022, and September 27, 2022, meetings in compliance with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20.

ANALYSIS

Unless otherwise provided by law, public notice must be given in advance of all meetings of a public entity in substantial compliance with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20. These public notices must include the date, time, and location of the meeting, an agenda with topics to be considered, and the general subject matter of any expected executive sessions. Notice must be posted at the principal office of the governing body, if one exists, and at the location of the meeting on the day of the meeting, and must be given to anyone requesting to receive notice of upcoming meetings. For city councils, notice must be filed with the city auditor and posted on the city's website, if a website exists. For emergency or special meetings, notice must also be given to the public entity's official newspaper and to any representatives of the news media requesting to be notified of the special meeting.

August 16 and September 20, 2022, Regular Meetings

Section 44-04-20, N.D.C.C. requires that the location of the meeting be included in the meeting notice. The City Auditor acknowledges that the City Council failed to include the location on the meeting notices for the August 16 and September 20, 2022, regular meetings. She explained the failure to include the location was an oversight because the only place to hold meetings within the city is at the Fire Hall and meetings have been held there for many years.

I have stated that "the fact that a meeting regularly occurs at the same place does not excuse the [public entity's] responsibility to include the location on the meeting notice." This is because "'[t]he location of a meeting is a material element of the notice' and a notice that fails to list the meeting location does not substantially comply with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20." As a result, the City Council's meeting notices for the August 16 and September 20 regular meetings do not substantially comply with the open meetings law because the notices failed to list the location of the meetings.

September 27, 2022, Special Meeting

For the special meeting on September 27, the same location omission applies. In addition, notice of a special meeting must be given to the public entity's official newspaper and to any representatives of the news media requesting to be notified of the special meeting. The City Auditor confirmed the local newspaper was not notified about the special meeting. The City Council violated § 44-04-20(5) by failing to send notice of the special meeting to the official newspaper.

CONCLUSION

The City of Great Bend violated N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20 by failing to properly notice its August 16, 2022, September 20, 2022, and September 27, 2022, meetings.

Drew H. Wrigley
Attorney General