From the PNA Legal Hotline

By Teri Henning, General Counsel
and Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: The county housing authority is planning to hold a “summer retreat” for its members to work on the agency’s five-year plan. The retreat is not open to the public. Doesn’t the Sunshine Act require this type of discussion to be held at a public meeting?

A: Yes. The Sunshine Act requires that any time a quorum of an agency deliberates agency business or takes official action, it must do so at a public meeting unless an exception applies. There are several limited exceptions that allow some discussions to happen outside a public meeting, but there is no blanket exception for strategic planning and no exception that allows official action to take place privately.

A quorum of an agency is the number required to take official action, usually one more than half. Deliberation and agency business are both broadly defined by law. Deliberation is “the discussion of agency business held for the purpose of making a decision.” Agency business is defined to include “the framing, preparation, making or enactment of laws, policy or regulations. These broad definitions, coupled with the intent of the law, leads to the conclusion that most agency discussions must take place at a public meeting.

If a quorum is discussing an agency’s strategic plan, the discussion should be held during a public meeting. There may be portions of the discussion that can be discussed privately such as discussions about specific personnel, litigation, the purchase or lease of real estate and collective bargaining. However, official action and most other discussions of agency business, including finance discussions and policy goals must take place during a public meeting.