OSA Weekly Update - 8/16/2024

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group

3. Avoiding Pitfall: Open Meeting Law Requirements Apply to Relief Associations

4. Job Openings

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group

The State Auditor’s Fire Relief Association Working Group will be meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 21 from 1-2:30 p.m.

The meeting will be held in a hybrid format and will be live-streamed for those who are interested in watching. The live-stream link, and the meeting agendas and materials, are available on the Working Group page of the OSA website.

Trustees of volunteer fire relief associations should be aware that fire relief associations are subject to requirements of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law, Minn. Stat. ch. 13D. This means that relief association board meetings must be open to the public unless the meeting is closed for a purpose expressly authorized under state law.

Relief associations must also keep meeting minutes that record the votes on actions taken during open meetings, and the minutes must be open to the public during normal business hours where records of the association are kept. The Open Meeting Law also contains meeting notice requirements, and requirements for providing meeting materials to board members and for making the materials available in the meeting room for public inspection.

The Data Practices Office of the Minnesota Department of Administration has the authority to review Open Meeting Law questions and to issue advisory opinions about these issues. They can be contacted by telephone at (651) 296-6733; by mail at 201 Administration Building, 50 Sherburne Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55155; or via its website. Information regarding Open Meeting Law requirements is available on the website.

The full Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.