From the PNA Legal Hotline

By Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

Q: A school board routinely calls lengthy executive sessions, sometimes a few hours long, in the middle of public meetings. The board does not tell us how long they plan to stay in the executive session, and many members of the public leave before the board returns to accept public comment and vote at the end of the meeting. Is there a time limit for executive sessions?

A: The Sunshine Act does not impose a time limit on executive sessions, however, agencies are prohibited from using an executive session as a means to defeat the purpose and intent of the Sunshine Act. The practice described above is contrary to the language and intent of the Sunshine Act.

Section 708(b) of the Sunshine Act allows, but does not require, agencies to call executive sessions for a number of limited purposes, including discussions about the purchase or lease of real estate, specific employees, threatened or pending litigation, and collective bargaining.

Section 708(b) allows agencies to call an executive session during an open meeting, at the conclusion of an open meeting, or to announce the session for a future time. The reason for holding the executive session must be announced at the open meeting occurring immediately prior or subsequent to the executive session.

Although the law allows agencies to hold executive sessions during an open meeting, section 708(c) of the Sunshine Act expressly prohibits agencies from using executive sessions “as a subterfuge to defeat the purposes of” the law.

Certainly, there may be situations where an issue arises during a meeting that agency members feel they need to discuss in an “emergency” executive session. These issues should not arise routinely, however, and any executive session called during a public meeting should not extend any longer than necessary to address the issue. The situation described above presents an unreasonable barrier to access and conflicts with both the language and intent of the law. Agencies must operate in a manner that recognizes the public’s right to attend and participate in public meetings.