The Maine Freedom of Access Act: what every meeting needs
Local boards in Maine's towns, cities and plantations follow the same law: for a board of 3 or more, public notice of each meeting in ample time for the public to attend; a record of each meeting that needed notice, within a reasonable period of time; and a closed list of matters for an executive session.
Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps: it records how the notice was posted, lists the duties it does not check, flags an executive session item until a Statutory basis is selected, and drafts the minutes for your board to correct and approve; it counts no notice or minutes deadline, because the Freedom of Access Act sets none, and it does not post the notice for you.
Request a pilotChecklist, stage by stage
What the law asks at each point in a meeting’s life. Each stage links to the full guide, with the statute quoted.
Before each meeting
- A board of 3 or more gives public notice of each meeting; the Freedom of Access Act does not require an agenda. (§ 406)
- The notice is given in ample time to allow the public to attend. The Freedom of Access Act sets no deadline: it gives no number of hours or days. (§ 406)
- It is spread in a way reasonably calculated to reach the general public the board serves. The Freedom of Access Act names no particular place, website or newspaper; the board chooses. (§ 406)
- For an emergency meeting, the local news media are told the time and place whenever practical, by the same or faster means used to tell the members. (§ 406, last sentence)
At the meeting
- The meeting is open to the public, and anyone may attend, except for an executive session or where another statute provides otherwise. (§ 403(1))
- Anyone may record or broadcast the meeting, as long as that does not interfere with its orderly conduct; the board may make reasonable rules for this that do not defeat the law's purpose. (§ 404)
- The Freedom of Access Act does not itself require a public comment period. (§ 403-B(2)(D)) But a regularly scheduled public meeting of a municipality's municipal officers must give a reasonable opportunity for public comment on matters the officers address; this does not apply to a subcommittee meeting. (§ 2608)
- An executive session is held only for a matter the law lists, on a public, recorded vote of 3/5 of the members present and voting, and nothing is finally approved inside. (§ 405(6), § 405(3), (4), (5), § 405(2))
Members joining by phone or video
- Members join remotely only under a written policy adopted after notice and a hearing, and every vote at such a meeting is a roll call. (§ 403-B(2)(A), (F), (G), § 403-B(2)(G)) Which board's policy covers yours, and the rules for school boards, are in the remote participation guide.
After the meeting
- A record of each meeting that needed notice is made within a reasonable period of time and is open to public inspection. The Freedom of Access Act sets no number of days. (§ 403(2))
- The record gives the date, time and place, each member as present or absent, and all motions and votes, by individual member if there is a roll call. (§ 403(2))
- Written minutes or an audio, video or other electronic recording counts as the record. (§ 403(3))
- An advisory body that makes recommendations but has no decision-making authority does not have to keep this record. (§ 403(6))
Outside meetings
- A proceeding is not held, and no vote is taken, by email or text alone. Members may talk outside a proceeding unless those talks are used to defeat the Act. (§ 403-B(1), § 401, second paragraph)
Maine guides
- When and how a Maine board gives notice of a meetingBoards of 3 or more, ample time with no deadline, a method that reaches the public, emergencies
- Maine meeting records: what the minutes or recording must showWhat the record shows, written minutes or a recording, no set number of days
- Executive session in Maine: when a board can meet in private, and what followsThe listed matters, the motion and vote, nothing finally approved inside
- What counts as a meeting in Maine: quorum, email and talking outside a meetingPublic proceedings, email, and talks outside a meeting
- Remote meetings in Maine: the written policy, notice, roll calls and recordingThe written policy, notice, roll-call votes and recording