The annual meeting schedule notice: what Rhode Island boards file each January

This guide explains the law in plain words; it is not legal advice. For a question about your board, ask your town or city solicitor.
By Clarivis · Checked against R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 42-46-2 and 42-46-6 on Thu, Oct 8, 2026.

What is the annual meeting schedule notice?

It is a yearly written notice listing a public body's regular meetings for the year ahead. The statute requires it of every public body:

It is easy to confuse with two other things. It is not the notice for any one meeting, and it is not a notice of a body's "annual meeting". It is the list of the year's regular meetings.

When is it due?

At "the beginning of each calendar year". The statute gives no specific date.

The safe course is to file it in the first days of January, and before the body's first regular meeting of the year, since that meeting is one the notice lists. That is practice, not a date in the statute.

A practical way to be ready: settle next year's regular dates, times and places at a meeting in November or December, so the notice is ready to file when January starts.

What does it have to list?

The dates, times and places of the body's regularly scheduled meetings.

Listing each date in full ("Tuesday, January 12, 7:00 p.m., Town Hall, Council Chambers") is the safe form. The statute says "the dates", and a pattern such as "the second Tuesday of each month" leaves the reader to work out each date. Whether a pattern alone is enough is not settled.

If the body meets online or in a hybrid format, saying how the public can attend helps residents, but § 42-46-6(a) does not mention it.

Where does it go?

Two places are named in (a): the Secretary of State, and any member of the public who asks for it. The filing with the Secretary of State is electronic:

Keep a copy, so the body can hand it to anyone who asks.

Whether the annual notice must also be posted at the body's office and one other prominent place, the way each meeting's notice is, is not settled. Posting it there as well costs little and helps residents.

Does it replace the 48-hour notice?

No. Each meeting still needs its own notice, posted and filed at least 48 hours before the meeting day. The statute calls that notice "supplemental" and requires it for "any meeting", so the annual notice never stands in for it:

The annual notice says when the body expects to meet. The 48-hour notice says what it will take up at a given meeting. See the meeting notice guide.

Which boards have to file one?

"All public bodies", in the statute's words. The Act defines a public body broadly:

Two points that often come up:

• Advisory committees. Subsection (a) applies to "All public bodies". Unlike the minutes filing rule in § 42-46-7(d), it has no exception for bodies "solely advisory in nature". Whether a particular advisory group is a public body at all is a separate question; see the meeting minutes guide.
• Bodies with no regular schedule. A board that meets only when business arises may have no "regularly scheduled meetings" to list. The statute does not say what such a board files. Ask your solicitor.

What if the schedule changes during the year?

The statute does not say. It requires the notice "at the beginning of each calendar year" and says nothing about updating it.

What is settled is that every meeting, regular or not, still needs its own 48-hour notice under (b), which applies to "any meeting". So a moved or added meeting is always noticed on its own. Whether the annual notice must also be amended is for your solicitor. Filing an updated schedule with the Secretary of State is the safer course, because it keeps the public record accurate.

Checklist

The timing below is the safe course. The statute says only "at the beginning of each calendar year".

In November or December

• Settle next year's regular meeting dates, times and places.

In the first days of January, before the first regular meeting

• The notice lists each regular meeting's date, time and place.
• Filed electronically with the Secretary of State.
• A copy kept to give to anyone who asks.

During the year

• Every meeting still gets its own notice, at least 48 hours before the meeting day, not counting weekends or state holidays.
• If the regular schedule changes, ask your solicitor whether to file an updated annual notice.

What the law does not settle

Questions to take to your town or city solicitor; this guide does not answer them.

• How early in January "the beginning of each calendar year" requires the notice, and whether filing after the first regular meeting is late.
• Whether a pattern ("the second Tuesday of each month") is enough, or each date must be listed.
• Whether the annual notice must also be posted at the body's office and another prominent place.
• What a board with no regular schedule files.
• Whether a mid-year change to the regular schedule requires an updated annual notice.
• What to do when the start of the year has passed and the notice was not filed.

How Clarivis helps

Related guides

Sources

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6, Notice: webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE42/42-46/42-46-6.htm (fetched Wed, Oct 7, 2026)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-2, Definitions: webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE42/42-46/42-46-2.htm (fetched Wed, Oct 7, 2026)