Changes effective 1 Sep 1969 by session law 1969, 482. Prior version was effective 26 Aug 1967 by session law 1967, 251.
All public proceedings [are]shall be open to the
public, and all persons [are]shall be permitted to
attend any meetings of [these]those bodies or
agencies[, and m]. Minutes of all
such meetings, including names of members, persons appearing
before the bodies or agencies, and a brief description of the subject
matter discussed and final decisions shall be promptly recorded
and open to public inspection within seventy-two hours of the
public meeting, except as provided by section 5 of this
chapter, and shall be treated as permanent records of any body or
agency, without exception.
Except in an emergency, a notice of the time and place of each
such meeting shall be posted in two appropriate public places or shall
be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town at
least twenty-four hours, excluding Sunday and legal holidays, prior to
such meetings.
An emergency shall mean a situation where immediate undelayed action is
deemed to be imperative and the minutes of the meeting shall clearly
spell out the need for the emergency meeting.
If the charter of any city or guide lines set down by the appointing
authority requires a broader public access to official
meetings and records than herein described, such charter provisions or
guide lines shall take precedence over the requirements of this chapter.
I. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to prevent these
bodies or agencies from holding executive sessions
for conducting
deliberations, but, subject to the provisions of paragraph II, all
sessions at which information, evidence or testimony in any form is
received shall be open to the public. D[but any d]ecisions
made during any executive session
as provided in paragraph II
must be [recorded and ]
made available
[for]to the public
[inspection promptly, and n]at the termination of the session
unless divulgence of the information would be likely to affect adversely
the reputation of any person or impair the effectiveness of the action.
No ordinances, orders, rules, resolutions, regulations, contracts,
appointments or other official actions shall be finally approved in
executive session except as provided in paragraph II.
[The conditions of this section do not apply to executive sessions of the
committees of the general court.]
The record of all actions shall be available for public inspection
promptly, except as provided for in paragraph II.