Public Records & Meetings Information

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NEBRASKA OPEN MEETINGS ACT

NEB. REV. STAT. § § 84-1407 THROUGH 84-1414 (Cum. Supp. 2006)

NEBRASKA PUBLIC RECORDS STATUTES

NEB. REV. STAT. § § 84-721 THROUGH 84-712.09 (1999; Cum. Supp. 2006)

NOTICE

We have now updated our Open Meetings Act outline to reflect the changes made to the act by the Nebraska Legislature with the passage of Legislative Bill 898 (2006 Neb. Laws LB 898). The changes to the Open Meetings Act (the "Act") are effective July 14, 2006. All public bodies subject to the Act must comply with the new requirements, which include the following provisions:

1. The subject matter and the reason necessitating a closed session (or executive session) must now be identified in the motion to close. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1410(1).

2. The entire motion to go into closed session must be recorded in the meeting minutes. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1410(2).

3. If the motion to go into closed session passes, the presiding officer, immediately prior to the closed session, must restate on the record the limitation of the subject matter of the closed session. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1410(2).

4. The public body must restrict its discussion in closed session to the purposes stated in the motion to go into closed session. [Prior language restricted discussion to the purposes stated in the minutes].

5. Agenda items must be sufficiently descriptive to give the public reasonable notice of the matters to be considered at the meeting. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1411(1).

6. Public bodies must make available at least one current copy of the Open Meetings Act posted in the meeting room at a location accessible to members of the public. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1412(8).

7. At the beginning of the meeting, the public shall be informed about the location of the posted information. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1412(8).

8. It shall no longer be a defense that a citizen, while attending a public meeting, failed to object to any alleged violation of the Act. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1414(3).