How to File an Open Meeting Law Complaint 101

How to File an Open Meeting Law Complaint 

OML 101

So if you feel the Open Meeting Law (OML) has been violated, what do you do? Where do you begin? Do you begin at the top? 

NO. 

A good place to start is at the beginning. The beginning is this website:

http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/open-meeting-law/ 

"ago" stands for Attorney General Office . Lots of good information here, including a Complaint FORM.

The COMPLAINT FORM is a three page document which when completed, is filed with whom? Three guesses and the Attorney General is an incorrect answer. 

So you file the complaint with the chair of the public body AND to the municipal clerk.

I filed THIS COMPLAINT on June 16, 2016 with the Templeton Town Clerk and the Chairman of the Templeton Board of Selectmen.

What does the public body do once it receives an OML complaint?

Again from the form:

 The Chairman sends the complaint to other members of the public body. The public body "must meet to review the complaint within 14 business days". After review but before the 14 business days the public body, in this case the BoS, must respond to the complaint in writing and send the complaint and response to both the AG and the complainant(Julie Farrell).

So I should expect a written response to my OML complaint from the BoS by July 10, 2017 or thereabouts. After the complaint has been publicly reviewed and a response voted on.

Does Town Counsel need to review this complaint? Not necessarily. The BoS can draft a response on their own. There is no legal requirement for Town Counsel to respond. 

Since the remedy I am requesting is a public, written apology, which doesn't cost anything, you would think the prudent course of action would be to draft a response by the BoS. So that's probably not going to happen.

Coming soon:

How to File an Appeal regarding a Response to an OML Complaint.