Request By:
Bobby A. McDowell
Georgetown City Councilman
102 Fordland Drive
Georgetown, Kentucky 40324
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General on the following question pertaining to the Kentucky Open Meetings Law, KRS 61.805-61.850:
"When any city or county government convenes into executive session, can its members vote by secret ballot for the sole purpose of reaching a general concensus among those members? However, is it not also understood that any final action must be taken in public in accordance with open meeting laws for the public record?"
The requirements for conducting a closed session of a meeting of a public agency are provided by KRS 61.815. With certain practical exceptions, no final action may be taken in a closed session. (See OAG 80-248).
When final action is taken by a public agency in open session the vote cannot be by secret ballot and it must be recorded in the minutes how each member voted. KRS 61.835 provides:
"The minutes of action taken at every meeting of any such public agency, setting forth an accurate record of votes and actions at such meetings, shall be promptly recorded and such records shall be open to public inspection at reasonable times no later than immediately following the next meeting of the body."
As to your question of whether an agency holding a properly conducted closed session may take a straw vote by secret ballot for the purpose of reaching a general consensus among the members, we see no statutory violation in such a procedure. The purpose of a closed session is to allow free discussion by the members and there are no statutory restrictions on how the discussion may be conducted. A straw vote may be taken whereby each member signifies, either openly or secretly, how he is inclined to vote on the subject. This may be followed by more discussion. But if final action is finally taken, it must be taken in open session (with exceptions) and the vote of each member, or his abstention, must be recorded in the minutes.