Request By:
Hon. Stacy Tapke, Kenton County Attorney
Opinion
Opinion By: ANDY BESHEAR, ATTORNEY GENERAL; Sarah Ellen Eads Adkins, Assistant Attorney General
Opinion of the Attorney General
Stacy Tapke, Kenton County Attorney, has requested an opinion of this office to address whether KRS 61.823(4)(c) allows notice of meetings by electronic means or interactive display screens rather than on paper so long as the notice is conspicuously posted where and when required. We find that notice of a meeting posted on an electronic screen is consistent with KRS 61.823(4)(c).
The Gene tice to certain parties.. Relevant here, KRS 61.823(4)(c) holds:
As soon as possible, written notice shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in the building where the special meeting will take place and in a conspicuous place in the building which houses the headquarters of the agency. The notice shall be calculated so that it shall be posted at least twenty-four (24) hours before the special meeting.
Our office has found that compliance is required to the "strict letter of the law" and KRS 61.823(4) "unambiguously require[s] physical posting of special meeting notice." 15-OMD-057. See also Floyd Chi. Bd. of Educ. v. Ratliff , 955 S.W.2d 921, 923 (Ky. 1997).
Hon. Tapke asks if the written requirement at KRS 61.823(4)(c) means an actual piece of paper must be posted with the required meeting details? She also asks if "posting meeting notices electronically on an interactive display screen or other type monitor rather than on paper, so long as the notice is conspicuously posted where and when required" would satisfy KRS 61.823(4)(c)?
Statutes must be interpreted "in accordance with their plain meanings, generally construing non-technical words according to their common meanings." Commonwealth v. Love , 334 S.W.3d 92, 93 (Ky. 2011). At issue in this opinion, "written" is not defined in KRS 61.823 or elsewhere in the Open Meetings Act. However, "written" is defined identically in several other statutory chapters as "letters, words, or numbers, or their equivalent, set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, magnetic impulse, mechanical or electronic recording, or other form of data compilation." KRS 44.001; KRS 42.001; KRS 45.005; KRS 43.010; KRS 45A.030; KRS 41.010; KRS 48.010. See also Furtula v. Univ. of Ky. , 438 S.W.3d 303, 305-06 (Ky. 2014), as modified (June 23, 2014).
In accordance with the purpose of the Act, we find that posting meeting notices electronically on an interactive display screen or other type of monitor rather than on paper, so long as the notice is conspicuously posted, is consistent with KRS 61.823(4)(c). This interpretation is consistent with the purpose of the Open Meetings Act, that "the formation of public policy is public business and shall not be conducted in secret" -- as long as the notice is posted "in a conspicuous place in the building where the special meeting will take place and in a conspicuous place in the building which houses the headquarters of the agency." KRS 61.800. As detailed above, the term "written" has been broadly defined in multiple statutory and common law contexts to include electronic and typewritten communication. Accordingly, though "physical posting of special meeting notice" is required, physical posting should not be limited to a piece of paper. 15-OMD-057. See also Floyd Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Ratliff , 955 S.W.2d 921, 923 (Ky. 1997). KRS 61.823(4)(c) was written to ensure notice is clearly given and notice can be clearly given on a piece of paper or on an electronic screen and, therefore, "written" must include typewritten words, including on an electronic screen.
It is important to note that, in order for the notice to be statutorily compliant, the notice must be plainly visible for the full twenty-four (24) hours before the special meeting. Meaning, the notice should not be on an "interactive" screen that requires a member of the community to click through multiple screens to access the notice. Similarly, the notice should not be on a monitor that rotates between multiple notices. The "written notice," whether on paper or screen, should be fully visible for the entire twenty-four (24) hours in a "conspicuous place in the building where the special meeting will take place and in a conspicuous place in the building which houses the headquarters of the agency" in order to adequately inform the public and to be compliant with KRS 61.823(4)(c). Accordingly, we find that notice of a special meeting continuously displayed on an electronic screen, depending on its format, is compatible KRS 61.823(4)(c).