Opinion: Timing of meeting notice matters
From the
PNA Legal
Hotline
By Teri
Henning, General Counsel
and Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania
Newspaper
Association
Q: A borough scheduled a
special meeting for Friday morning and requested
the public notice ad to run in our Thursday
edition. We are an afternoon paper and most
readers don’t receive the paper until after 4
p.m. Does this create an issue?
A: Yes. The Sunshine Act requires agencies to
give at least 24 hours advance notice of a
special meeting.
The Sunshine Act requires agencies to provide
public notice of the date, time and place of a
public meeting at least 24 hours in advance in a
newspaper of general circulation. The fact that
the newspaper isn’t distributed to the public
until late afternoon must be a factor considered
by the agency when placing public notice ads
related to meetings.
If a meeting is scheduled for Friday morning and
the newspaper is an afternoon paper, the ad
should appear no later than the Wednesday edition
so that at least 24 hours notice has been
provided.
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association attorneys provide member newspapers with advice on government access issues.