In Eberhardt v. Village of Tinley Park, the Illinois Appellate Court reviewed a municipality’s ordinance requiring that public comment at special board meetings be germane to items on the agenda. The court held that the ordinance did not violate the Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) or the Illinois Constitution.
In its analysis, the court distinguished between a regular board meeting, which is considered a designated public forum, and, therefore, restrictions on public comment are subject to strict constitutional scrutiny, and a special board meeting, where the discussion is limited to specified agenda topics. The court determined that special board meetings are not designated public forums, and therefore are subject to a lower level of constitutional scrutiny; restrictions need only be reasonable and viewpoint neutral. The ordinance at issue was reasonable because a municipality has a significant government interest in ensuring that public comment at special board meetings proceed in an orderly and efficient manner, and members of the public could address any issue at public comment at the village’s regular board meetings. Additionally, the ordinance was viewpoint neutral because it did not prohibit speech based on the speaker’s viewpoint.
With regard to the OMA, the court found that the ordinance was consistent with the requirement to allow people “an opportunity to address public officials” because it allowed people to address the village on agenda items at special meetings and on any topic at regular meetings.
This case is an important demonstration that public comment is not unlimited, particularly at special meetings. Public bodies can establish certain rules to ensure that meetings proceed in an orderly fashion. At the same time, it is important that any rules be established and recorded, and that such rules must, at minimum, be reasonable and viewpoint neutral.
Please contact a member of our Board Governance/Corporate practice group with questions.
Source: Eberhardt v. Village of Tinley Park, 2024 IL App (1st) 230139
