In a binding opinion, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (“PAC”) found that a school board violated the Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) when the board president interrupted a public commenter as she began to discuss hiring policies. The board president explained that she believed the public commenter was about to address a personnel issue, which she stated should have been addressed directly with the board privately.
The PAC found that the public body violated Section 2.06(g) of the OMA, which provides that rules governing public comments must not only be “established” but also “recorded” by the public body. While the board had established and recorded rules governing public comment (in Board Policy 2:230), those rules did not restrict public comment on personnel matters. As a result, the board could not require the public commenter to address a personnel matter outside of public comment.
In addition to the OMA’s requirement that rules on public comment be established and recorded, the First Amendment also limits a public body’s ability to restrict the content of public comment, even about individual employees or students. If a public body intends to enforce rules on public comment, those rules must be established and recorded, and must not violate the requirements of the First Amendment.
Source: Public Access Opinion 23-013
