When and how a Maine board gives notice of a meeting
Short answer
A Maine board of 3 or more gives public notice of each meeting in ample time to allow the public to attend, in a way reasonably calculated to reach the general public it serves. The Freedom of Access Act sets no deadline, names no place and requires no agenda. 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.(1 M.R.S. § 406)
Where this fits in your meeting cycle: 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.
See how Clarivis helpsQuestions on this page
Which boards must give notice?
A board of 3 or more:
Statute text
“Public notice shall be given for all public proceedings as defined in section 402, if these proceedings are a meeting of a body or agency consisting of 3 or more persons.”
The public proceedings the law covers include those of local boards:
Statute text
“Any board, commission, agency or authority of any county, municipality, school district or any regional or other political or administrative subdivision;”
A municipality there includes a plantation:
Statute text
“Municipality” includes cities, towns and plantations, except that “municipality” does not include plantations in Title 10, chapter 110, subchapter IV; or Title 30-A, Part 2.
The two exceptions apply only in those other titles, so on a plain reading they do not reach the Freedom of Access Act: the boards of Maine's towns, cities and plantations are all covered.
Read plainly, a board of fewer than 3 people has no notice duty under § 406, though its meetings are still open to the public (§ 403(1)). That is a plain reading of the words; no court has settled it.
A meeting of a board of 3 or more held only to go into executive session also gets notice. The vote to go in is a public vote taken at the meeting, so the meeting is a public proceeding. That too is a plain reading, not settled by a court. See the executive session guide.
How far ahead must notice be given?
In ample time for the public to attend:
Statute text
“This notice shall be given in ample time to allow public attendance and shall be disseminated in a manner reasonably calculated to notify the general public in the jurisdiction served by the body or agency concerned.”
The Freedom of Access Act sets no deadline: it gives no number of hours or days. Whether notice came in ample time depends on the facts of each meeting. Another law, a charter or an ordinance may set a time for a particular kind of meeting or hearing; this guide does not cover those.
In practice, notice given well before the meeting, in the same places each time, is easier to show was ample. That is practice, not a rule in the law, and it sets no number.
Where does the notice go?
The Freedom of Access Act names no place, website or newspaper. It asks for a manner reasonably calculated to notify the general public in the area the board serves (§ 406). The board chooses how.
In practice, boards post the notice where the public is used to finding it, such as the municipal office, put it on the municipality's website, print it in a newspaper, or do several of these. Those are common choices, not a list in the law.
What must the notice say?
§ 406 does not list what a notice contains. A notice of an emergency meeting to the local news media includes the time and location (§ 406, last sentence). A meeting with remote participation has its own notice contents; see What if members or the public join remotely? and the remote participation guide.
In practice, a notice names the board and gives the meeting's date, time and place, so the public can attend. That is practice, not a list in the law.
Does a Maine notice need an agenda?
Not under the Freedom of Access Act, which asks for no agenda (§ 406). A board may still list its topics. A charter, an ordinance, another law or the board's own rules may ask for more; this guide does not cover those.
What if members or the public join remotely?
Only under a written policy, adopted first:
Statute text
“After notice and hearing the body has adopted a written policy governing the conditions upon which members of the body and the public may participate in a public proceeding of that body by remote methods.”
Whose policy applies. A policy adopted by the municipal officers (the select board, council or plantation assessors) covers every board of the municipality, unless they specifically authorize a board to adopt its own. A policy of any other body covers its own boards, committees and subcommittees unless they adopt their own. A school board keeps its own choice:
Statute text
“A. Except as provided in paragraphs B and C, a remote participation policy adopted by a public body pursuant to subsection 2 applies to a board, committee or subcommittee that is within the jurisdiction of the public body, unless the board, committee or subcommittee adopts its own policy under subsection 2.”
“B. A remote participation policy adopted pursuant to subsection 2 by the county commissioners of the county, the municipal officers of a municipality or the officers of any regional or other political subdivision applies to all public bodies subject to this subchapter that are within the jurisdiction of the county, municipality or regional or other political subdivision, respectively, unless the county commissioners, municipal officers or other officers of the regional or other political subdivision specifically authorize a public body under their jurisdiction to adopt its own remote participation policy.”
“C. Nothing in this subsection limits the right of a school board to choose to adopt or to choose not to adopt a remote participation policy under subsection 2.”
What the notice says. The meeting gets the ordinary notice, which also says how the public can join remotely when they may, and names a place to attend in person, unless an emergency or urgent situation requires the board to meet only remotely:
Statute text
“Notice of the proceeding must be provided in accordance with section 406. When the public may attend by remote methods pursuant to paragraphs C and D, the notice must include the means by which members of the public may access the proceeding using remote methods. The notice must also identify a location for members of the public to attend in person. The body may limit public attendance at a proceeding solely to remote methods if there is an emergency or urgent situation that requires the body to meet only by remote methods;”
Public comment. The Freedom of Access Act does not itself require a public comment period. When a board meeting with remote participation takes public comment, by choice or because another law requires it, the members and the public need an effective way to communicate:
Statute text
“If the body allows or is required to provide an opportunity for public input during the proceeding, an effective means of communication between the members of the body and the public must be provided;”
Every vote at a meeting with remote participation is a roll call (§ 403-B(2)(A), (F), (G)).
What about an emergency meeting?
The local news media are told, whenever practical:
Statute text
“In the event of an emergency meeting, local representatives of the media shall be notified of the meeting, whenever practical, the notification to include time and location, by the same or faster means used to notify the members of the agency conducting the public proceeding.”
Read plainly, the general notice duty still applies to an emergency meeting as far as time allows: § 406 covers all public proceedings, and the emergency sentence adds the media notice without replacing it. That is a plain reading; no court has settled it.
Checklist for each meeting
- For a board of 3 or more: public notice of the meeting, including a meeting held to go into executive session.
- Given in ample time for the public to attend. The Freedom of Access Act sets no deadline; earlier is easier to show.
- Spread in a way reasonably calculated to reach the general public the board serves.
- For a meeting with remote participation under the written policy: the notice says how the public can join remotely, when they may, and where to attend in person, unless an emergency or urgent situation requires a remote-only meeting.
- In an emergency: the local news media told the time and place whenever practical, by the same or faster means used to tell the members, and general notice given as far as time allows.
What the law does not settle
These are questions to take to your municipal attorney; this guide does not answer them.
- How much time is ample for a particular meeting.
- Which methods are reasonably calculated to reach the public a particular board serves.
- Whether a board of fewer than 3 people has any notice duty under the Freedom of Access Act. This guide follows the plain reading that § 406 gives it none.
- Whether the general notice duty applies to an emergency meeting alongside the media notice. This guide follows the plain reading that it does.
- What counts as an emergency for a particular board.
How Clarivis helps
Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps; it does not post the notice or tell the news media for you.
- Shows no notice deadline for a Maine meeting, because the Freedom of Access Act sets none. The meeting's Overview says “The law sets no deadline” and gives the law's words for when notice goes out. No notice reminders are sent.
- Quotes the law in the Mark notice posted… dialog, so the person posting sees how Maine asks notice to be given.
- Records the posting. After the notice is posted, you select Mark notice posted… and the meeting's Overview shows “Notice posted for the public” as done. For an emergency meeting the row reads “Local news media told the time and place”.
Related guides
- 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
This guide for other states
Sources
- 1 M.R.S. § 406, public notice (Freedom of Access Act): legislature.maine.gov/statutes/1/title1sec406.html
- 1 M.R.S. § 402, definitions: legislature.maine.gov/statutes/1/title1sec402.html
- 1 M.R.S. § 403-B, remote participation: legislature.maine.gov/statutes/1/title1sec403-B.html
- 1 M.R.S. § 72, definitions for construing statutes: legislature.maine.gov/statutes/1/title1sec72.html
- 1 M.R.S. § 403, meetings open to the public: legislature.maine.gov/statutes/1/title1sec403.html