Open meetings are essential so that citizens can observe the inner workings of government. The Ohio Open Meetings Act permits citizens of Ohio to observe the operations of their government and includes meetings of any agency, board, commission, committee, or similar decision-making body at the state, county, township, or municipal level, and nonprofit corporations when expending public monies. The law may be enforced by requesting that a court forbid decision-making and deliberations that are not conducted in public meetings.
Some government meetings are permitted to conduct some proceedings in executive sessions, which are not open to the public. Executive sessions are allowed only to discuss certain specified matters such as personnel issues, purchasing property, pending litigation, collective bargaining security arrangements, trade secrets, and other matters specifically required to be kept confidential by state or federal law. Some courts have found that a gathering of the members of a public body where they act only as passive observers in a fact-gathering capacity or informational session is not a meeting that is required to be open to the public.
“Democracies die behind closed doors.” Judge Damon Keith, U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Some government meetings are permitted to conduct some proceedings in executive sessions, which are not open to the public. Executive sessions are allowed only to discuss certain specified matters such as personnel issues, purchasing property, pending litigation, collective bargaining security arrangements, trade secrets, and other matters specifically required to be kept confidential by state or federal law. Some courts have found that a gathering of the members of a public body where they act only as passive observers in a fact-gathering capacity or informational session is not a meeting that is required to be open to the public.