Executive session in Connecticut: when a board can meet in private, and what follows
Short answer
A Connecticut board may meet in executive session only for one of the five purposes in § 1-200(6). It goes in on a vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting, taken at a public meeting and stating the reasons. Only members attend, and people the board invites to give testimony or opinion, while they give it. The minutes list everyone who attended, except job applicants being interviewed.(Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 1-200(6), 1-225(f), 1-231(a))
Where this fits in your meeting cycle: Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps: it counts the deadline for each meeting's agenda or notice, shows when each regular meeting's minutes are due and drafts the minutes for your board to correct and approve; it does not file or post anything for you.
See how Clarivis helpsQuestions on this page
When can a board go into executive session?
Only for a purpose the law lists:
Statute text
“Executive sessions” means a meeting of a public agency at which the public is excluded for one or more of the following purposes:
The five purposes, in short:
| Purpose | In short |
|---|---|
| (A) | Appointment, employment, performance, evaluation, health or dismissal of an officer or employee |
| (B) | Strategy and negotiations on pending claims or litigation |
| (C) | Security strategy, or deploying security personnel or devices |
| (D) | Choosing a site, or leasing, selling or buying real estate, when publicity would affect the price |
| (E) | Matters that would disclose records exempt from public disclosure |
The list is closed. A topic that fits none of them is discussed in open session. Each short description is a summary; read the full purpose in the law before relying on it. For purpose (A), the officer or employee may require that the discussion be held in open session.
What has to happen before the board goes in?
An executive session is entered only from a public meeting, by a vote taken there; see what counts as a meeting.
On the agenda or in the notice. An executive session is business of the meeting. At a special meeting it must be in the notice; at a regular meeting it is on the filed agenda, or added at the meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting. See the meeting notice and agenda guide.
The vote to go in. In open session, the board votes, and the vote states the reasons:
Statute text
“A public agency may hold an executive session, as defined in subdivision (6) of section 1-200, upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of such body present and voting, taken at a public meeting and stating the reasons for such executive session”
Two-thirds of the members present and voting, not of the whole board. Each member's vote is recorded, as every vote is.
Who may attend, and what goes in the minutes?
Members of the board, and people the board invites to give testimony or opinion on the matter, only for as long as they are needed to give it.
The minutes are a separate record, and they list who was there:
Statute text
“the minutes of such executive session shall disclose all persons who are in attendance except job applicants who attend for the purpose of being interviewed by such agency”
Checklist
- The topic fits one of the five purposes.
- The executive session is in the special meeting's notice, or on the regular meeting's agenda or added to it by a two-thirds vote.
- In open session, two-thirds of the members present and voting vote to go in, and the vote states the reasons.
- Only members attend; invited people only while they give testimony or opinion.
- The minutes list everyone who attended, except job applicants being interviewed.
What the law does not settle
These are questions to take to your town counsel; this guide does not answer them.
- Whether a particular topic fits one of the five purposes.
- Whether, and when, executive session minutes may be withheld from the public; that turns on the public records sections of the Act.
How Clarivis helps
Clarivis does not decide whether a topic qualifies for executive session; your board and its town counsel do.
- On the agenda, an executive session item is flagged until one of the five purposes is selected for it.
- During the meeting, the person recording selects Enter executive session and chooses its purpose. Recording stops, and nothing is recorded until the board returns to open session.
- In the draft minutes, executive session audio is left out.
- After the meeting, the compliance check flags an executive session with no recorded purpose.
Related guides
- Connecticut meeting agendas and notices: the yearly schedule, and what to file before each meetingThe yearly schedule, the regular agenda, the special notice, the 24-hour count
- The yearly meeting schedule in Connecticut: what a board files by January 31The January 31 filing and the 30-day wait
- Connecticut meeting minutes and votes: what they must include and when they are dueMinutes within 7 days, each member's vote within 48 hours
- What counts as a meeting in Connecticut: quorum, email and chance encountersQuorum, email, and what the law leaves out
- Online and phone meetings in Connecticut: notice, public access and recordingOnline meetings: notice, public access, votes and recording
This guide for other states
Sources
- Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 1-200, 1-225 and 1-231, Freedom of Information Act: www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_014.htm