Connecticut meeting agendas and notices: the yearly schedule, and what to file before each meeting
Short answer
A Connecticut local board files its schedule of regular meetings with the town clerk by January 31. It files each regular meeting's agenda in the board's office and with the town clerk at least 24 hours ahead, counting every hour. A special meeting's notice goes to the town clerk, and to the town website where the town has one, at least 24 hours ahead, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays or days the office is closed.(Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-225(b), (c), (d) and (g))
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
What is filed each January?
Statute text
“The chairperson or secretary of any such public agency of any political subdivision of the state shall file, not later than January thirty-first of each year, with the clerk of such subdivision the schedule of regular meetings of such public agency for the ensuing year”
So by January 31 each year, the board's chair or secretary files the year's regular meeting dates with the town clerk. A regular meeting may not be held sooner than 30 days after the schedule is filed. See the yearly meeting schedule guide.
What has to be filed before a regular meeting?
Statute text
“The agenda of the regular meetings of every public agency, except for the General Assembly, shall be available to the public and shall be filed, not less than twenty-four hours before the meetings to which they refer”
The agenda goes to two places: the board's own office (its regular office or place of business) and the town clerk. A regular meeting held in person has no separate notice; the filed schedule and the filed agenda do that work. A regular meeting held fully or partly online also needs the 48-hour notice described below.
What has to be filed before a special meeting?
Statute text
“Such notice shall be given not less than twenty-four hours prior to the time of the special meeting”
The notice gives the time and place of the meeting and the business to be done. It is filed with the town clerk, and posted on the town website where the town has one. Written notice also goes to each member's home in time to arrive before the meeting, unless the member files a written waiver with the board's clerk or secretary, or is present when the meeting begins.
How are the 24 hours counted?
It depends on the kind of meeting.
- Regular meeting: every hour counts. For a Monday 7 p.m. meeting, the agenda is filed by 7 p.m. the Sunday before. The town clerk's office is usually closed on weekends, so in practice the agenda for this Monday meeting reaches the clerk before the office closes on Friday. Whatever the day, it must still be filed at least 24 hours ahead; ask your clerk how they accept agendas when the office is closed.
- Special meeting: Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays and any day the board's or the clerk's office is closed are left out:
Statute text
“In determining the time within which or by when a notice, agenda, record of votes or minutes of a special meeting or an emergency special meeting are required to be filed under this section, Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays and any day on which the office of the agency, the Secretary of the State or the clerk of the applicable political subdivision or the clerk of each municipal member of any multitown district or agency, as the case may be, is closed, shall be excluded.”
So notice of a special meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. is filed by 7 p.m. the Friday before, in a week with no holiday and no office closure. The clerk's office is usually closed by then, so in practice the notice reaches the clerk before the office closes that Friday; ask your clerk how they accept notices out of hours.
Which days are legal holidays? Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-4 lists New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lincoln Day (February 12), Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day and Christmas, and any day the Governor or the President appoints or recommends as a day of thanksgiving, fasting or religious observance. A holiday that falls on a weekend moves:
Statute text
“whenever any of such days which are not designated to occur on Monday, occurs upon a Sunday, the Monday next following such day shall be a legal holiday and whenever any of such days occurs upon a Saturday, the Friday immediately preceding such day shall be a legal holiday”
When in doubt, file earlier. Nothing in the law stops a board from giving more notice than the minimum.
Can the board take up an item that is not on the agenda?
At a regular meeting, yes, if two-thirds of the members present and voting agree; the board may then act on it. At a special meeting, no: it may take up only the business listed in its notice.
If the agenda changes before the deadline, file the updated agenda in the board's office and with the town clerk at least 24 hours before the meeting.
What about an emergency or an online meeting?
Emergency. In an emergency, a special meeting may be held without the 24-hour notice. Minutes of an emergency meeting, stating the emergency, are filed with the town clerk within 72 hours.
Online. Before a regular meeting held fully or partly online, each member is notified in writing or by email, and a notice that the meeting will be held online is posted in the board's office, with the town clerk and on the town website where the town has one, at least 48 hours ahead. The agenda is posted in the same places at least 24 hours ahead, with instructions for the public on how to attend and comment.
Statute text
“On and after July 1, 2021, a public agency may hold a public meeting that is accessible to the public by means of electronic equipment or by means of electronic equipment in conjunction with an in-person meeting, in accordance with the provisions of this section.”
For public access, roll-call votes and recording, see the remote participation guide.
Checklist for each meeting
- By January 31: the year's regular meetings filed with the town clerk.
- Regular meeting: agenda filed in the board's office and with the town clerk at least 24 hours ahead, counting every hour.
- Special meeting: notice of the time, place and business filed with the town clerk and posted on the town website where the town has one at least 24 hours ahead, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays or days the office is closed; written notice to each member.
- Online regular meeting: members notified and notice posted at least 48 hours ahead; agenda posted in the same places, including the town website where the town has one, at least 24 hours ahead.
- At a special meeting, only the business in the notice.
What the law does not settle
These are questions to take to your town counsel; this guide does not answer them.
- How a committee created during the year notices its first regular meeting, and whether the 30-day wait after filing a schedule applies to it.
- Whether a meeting called only for an executive session, and not on the filed schedule, is a special meeting.
- Whether a day the office was open for only part of the day, or closed without notice, counts as a day it was closed.
- Whether the rule that leaves out Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and days the office is closed also applies to a regular meeting's agenda and minutes. This guide counts every hour for the agenda and every day for the minutes. For the minutes that already gives the earlier date; for the agenda, a cautious board files as if those days were left out, which is earlier.
How Clarivis helps
Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps; it does not file or post anything for you.
- Counts the deadline for each meeting: every hour for a regular meeting's agenda, and for a special meeting's notice, leaving out Saturdays, Sundays and Connecticut legal holidays. It cannot see the days an office was closed, so it does not leave those out. If the board's or the clerk's office is closed on a day before a special meeting, the real deadline is earlier than the one shown.
- Asks for the link to a special meeting's notice on the town website when you record it.
- Prints the agenda and notice as a document with the town's details.
- Records the filing. For a regular meeting, select Mark notice filed… once the agenda is filed in the board's office and with the town clerk, and the meeting shows it as filed. A regular meeting held online also needs the 48-hour notice described below.
Related guides
- 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
- Executive session in Connecticut: when a board can meet in private, and what followsThe five purposes, the two-thirds vote, who attends, the minutes
- 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. § 1-225, Meetings of government agencies to be public: www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_014.htm
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-4, Days designated as legal holidays: www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_002.htm