Video-conference meetings in Ohio: who may attend, the policy and the notice
Short answer
In Ohio, a member must be present in person to be present, to vote or to count toward a quorum. The video-conference law is the exception: a body may meet by video only after it adopts a policy. No member may attend that way if the members are elected by the public or are paid (with a narrow exception for some multi-party meetings), or at a meeting involving certain votes or a tax proposal.(Ohio Rev. Code § 121.22(C); Ohio Rev. Code § 121.221(B); Ohio Rev. Code § 121.221(B)(5))
Where this fits in your meeting cycle: Clarivis is software that helps a body follow these steps: it shows when a special meeting's notice is due to the news media that have requested notification, flags an executive session item until a Statutory basis is selected, and drafts the minutes for your body to correct and approve; it does not give the notice or tell the news media for you.
See how Clarivis helpsQuestions on this page
Do members have to attend in person?
Under the Open Meetings Act, yes:
Statute text
“A member of a public body shall be present in person at a meeting open to the public to be considered present or to vote at the meeting and for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present at the meeting.”
A separate law, R.C. 121.221, makes an exception for video conference. It applies to a body only on the terms below.
When may members attend by video conference?
Statute text
“Except as otherwise provided in the Revised Code, members of a public body may hold and attend meetings and may conduct and attend hearings by means of video conference or any other similar electronic technology, and all of the following apply:”
A member who attends this way counts as there in person:
Statute text
“Notwithstanding division (C) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code, members of a public body who attend meetings or hearings by means of video conference or any other similar electronic technology shall be considered present as if in person at the meeting or hearing, shall be permitted to vote, and shall be counted for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present at the meeting or hearing.”
But the body must act first:
Statute text
“The public body shall not hold hearings or meetings by means of video conference or any other similar electronic technology until the public body has adopted a policy that specifies at least all of the following:”
Which bodies and meetings may not use video?
Some bodies and some meetings are left out:
Statute text
“No public body may hold, and no member of a public body may attend, meetings or conduct and attend hearings by means of video conference or other similar electronic technology if any of the following apply: (i) The meeting or hearing involves a vote to approve a major nonroutine expenditure. (ii) The meeting or hearing involves a vote to approve a significant hiring decision. (iii) The meeting or hearing involves a purpose to propose, approve, or vote on a tax issue or tax increase. (iv) Excluding expense reimbursements for actual expenses incurred while fulfilling their duties, the members of the public body are compensated for their position as members of the public body. (v) The members of the public body are elected by the general public to their positions as members.”
So:
- If the members are elected by the general public, no member may attend by video.
- If the members are paid for serving, no member may attend by video. Reimbursement of actual expenses does not count as pay.
- Whatever the body, no member may attend by video a meeting that involves a vote on a major nonroutine expenditure or a significant hiring decision, or a purpose to propose, approve or vote on a tax issue or tax increase.
The law makes one exception to the bar on elected or paid members:
Statute text
“The prohibition on compensated and elected members holding or attending virtual meetings and hearings established in division (A)(5)(a) of this section does not apply to members participating in a virtual multi-party meeting if the multi-party meeting does not involve a vote to approve a major nonroutine expenditure or significant hiring decision or involve a purpose to propose, approve, or vote on a tax issue or tax increase.”
The law defines a multi-party meeting as one in which the members of the body and the members of at least one other public body take part (§ 121.221(A), "Multi-party meeting"); ask your counsel whether yours is one. A body whose members are appointed and unpaid may use video conference once it has a policy, except for a meeting that involves one of the listed votes or purposes.
What must the body's policy say?
The policy must cover at least six things (§ 121.221(B)(3)): the four below, the limits on who and what may use video (above), and members' right to require that an agenda item be acted on in person (next section).
Notice
At least 72 hours ahead, to the public and to the news media that have requested notification, by methods by which any person may find the time, location, agenda and how the meeting will be conducted:
Statute text
“The public body shall provide notification of meetings and hearings held under this section to the public, to the media that have requested notification of a meeting, and to the parties required to be notified of a hearing at least seventy-two hours in advance of the meeting or hearing by reasonable methods by which any person may determine the time, location, agenda of the meeting or hearing, and the manner by which the meeting or hearing will be conducted, except in the event of an emergency requiring immediate official action, as defined by the policy.”
See the notice guide.
Public access
The public must be able to observe and hear everyone:
Statute text
“The public body shall ensure that the public can observe and hear the discussions and deliberations of all the members of the public body, whether the member is participating in person or electronically.”
The same provision requires that members have a connection good enough to be seen and heard clearly and be visible at all times, and gives livestreaming over the internet, television, cable or a public access channel as examples. (§ 121.221(B)(3)(b))
Votes
By roll call unless no member objects to a motion for unanimous consent:
Statute text
“All votes taken in the meeting or hearing shall be taken by roll call vote unless there is a motion for unanimous consent, and the motion is not objected to by a member of the public body. If a vote is taken unanimously, the public body shall provide the public with information on how the members of the public body voted, including any members who abstained from voting.”
A member's own notice
A member who plans to attend by video tells the chair ahead of time:
Statute text
“Any member of the public body who intends to attend a meeting by means of video conference or other similar electronic technology shall notify the chairperson of that intent not less than forty-eight hours before the meeting, except in the case of an emergency as defined in the policy.”
Can members require an item to be decided in person?
Yes, if enough of them ask in time:
Statute text
“If, upon the notification of an upcoming meeting of a public body, and not later than forty-eight hours before the meeting, the greater of at least ten per cent of the members of the public body or two members of the public body, notifies the chairperson of the public body that an item in the agenda must be acted upon at a meeting conducted fully in person, upon the chairperson's acknowledgment of receipt of the notification, the public body shall take action on the item of the agenda only at a meeting conducted fully in person.”
Checklist
Before the body uses video conference
- The members are neither elected by the general public nor paid for serving. (§ 121.221(B)(5))
- The body has adopted the policy the law requires. (§ 121.221(B)(3))
Before a meeting held by video conference
- Notice to the public and to the news media that requested it, with the time, location, agenda and how the meeting will be conducted, at least 72 hours ahead unless the policy's emergency exception applies. (§ 121.221(B)(3)(a))
- The meeting involves no vote to approve a major nonroutine expenditure or a significant hiring decision, and no purpose to propose, approve or vote on a tax issue or tax increase. (§ 121.221(B)(5))
- Each member who will attend by video has told the chair at least 48 hours ahead, unless the policy's emergency exception applies. (§ 121.221(B)(3)(d))
- No agenda item is waiting for an in-person meeting. If at least two members, or ten per cent of the members if that is more, asked the chair no later than 48 hours before the meeting and the chair acknowledged it, the body acts on that item only at a meeting fully in person. (§ 121.221(B)(3)(f))
At the meeting
- The public can observe and hear all the members, in the room and online. (§ 121.221(B)(3)(b))
- Votes by roll call, unless a motion for unanimous consent draws no objection; after a unanimous vote, the public is told how each member voted, including any abstentions. (§ 121.221(B)(3)(c))
- (Safe course) Minutes record who attended in person and who attended by video.
What the law does not settle
These are questions to take to your legal counsel; this guide does not answer them.
- Whether your body qualifies, when some members are paid or some are elected.
- What a "multi-party meeting" covers in practice, for example a joint session with another body.
- What counts as a "major nonroutine expenditure" or a "significant hiring decision"; one provision leaves the definition to the body's policy, and the provision that bars video for those votes does not define them.
- Whether the 72-hour notice must be given when only one member attends by video.
- How to hold an executive session when a member is on video.
- Whether the law requires a recording or a transcript of a video-conference meeting.
How Clarivis helps
At the meeting, Clarivis records how each member attended; it does not run the call, post the notice or make the recording for you.
- Remote is its own attendance state. Each member is recorded present, remote or absent, and remote is never folded into present.
- A reason for each remote member. For Ohio, Live Meeting offers the reason Video conference under the body's policy (members not elected or paid), and Other / none. A remote member counts toward quorum only when that first reason is recorded.
- Warns about late notice. If a member is recorded as attending by video conference under the body's policy and the notice was marked given less than 72 hours before the meeting, or is not marked given, the meeting's Compliance step says so. It does not warn for an emergency meeting. On the meeting's Overview, the Notice card has an optional tick, The notice included the agenda; when a member is recorded as attending by video under the body's policy and it is not ticked, the Compliance step says so. Clarivis does not read the posted notice to see whether it held the agenda.
- What it does not record. Clarivis does not record whether your body has adopted the policy, whether its members are elected or paid, or whether the public could see and hear the meeting. You decide whether the reason applies.
Related guides
- Meeting notice in Ohio: regular, special and emergency meetingsRegular, special and emergency meetings, in the law's own words
- Meeting minutes in Ohio: when they are due and what executive session minutes sayMinutes and executive session minutes, in the law's own words
- Executive session in Ohio: the matters a body may consider in private, and how it goes inThe listed matters, the roll call vote, and the full statute text
- What counts as a meeting in Ohio: a majority, prearranged, public businessA majority, prearranged, about public business
This guide for other states
Sources
- Ohio Rev. Code § 121.22(C), open meetings: codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-121.22
- Ohio Rev. Code § 121.221, meetings by video conference: codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-121.221