SECTION BDA

LOCAL GOVERNANCE
BOARD MEETINGS
CLOSED MEETINGS

CLOSED MEETINGS

 

The Navarro College Board of Trustees will conduct closed meetings in accordance with procedures set forth in the Open Meetings Act or other applicable law under which the closed meeting will be held.

 

VOTE OR FINAL ACTION

 

A final action, decision, or vote on a matter deliberated in a closed meeting shall be made only in an open meeting for which proper notice has been given.

 

CERTIFIED AGENDA OR RECORDING

 

The board shall either keep a certified agenda or make a recording of the proceedings of each closed meeting, except for private consultation permitted under Government Code 551.071.
 
The presiding officer shall certify that a certified agenda is a true and correct record of the proceedings. The certified agenda must include a statement of the subject matter of each deliberation, a record of any further action taken, and an announcement by the presiding officer at the beginning and end of the closed meeting indicating the date and time. A recording made under Government Code 551.103(a) must include announcements by the presiding officer at the beginning and end of the meeting indicating the date and time.
 
Closed meetings may not be recorded by an individual trustee against the wishes of a majority of the board.

 

PRESERVATION

 

A board shall preserve the certified agenda or recording of a closed meeting for at least two years after the date of the meeting. If a legal action involving the meeting is brought within that period, the board shall preserve the certified agenda or recording while the action is pending.

 

PUBLIC ACCESS

 

The certified agenda or recording of a closed meeting is available for public inspection and copying only under a court order issued under Government Code 551.104(b)(3).

 

PROHIBITIONS

 

A member of a board commits an offense if the member participates in a closed meeting of the board knowing that a certified agenda of the closed meeting is not being kept or that a recording of the closed meeting is not being made.
 
An individual, corporation, or partnership that without lawful authority knowingly discloses to a member of the public the certified agenda or recording of a meeting that was lawfully closed to the public under this chapter commits an offense; and is liable to a person injured or damaged by the disclosure.
 
No member of a board shall knowingly call or aid in calling or organizing a closed meeting that is not permitted under the Open Meetings Act, close or aid in closing a regular meeting to the public except as permitted under the Open Meetings Act, or participate in a closed meeting that is not permitted under the Open Meetings Act.

 

AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE

 

It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection 551.144(a) that the member of the board acted in reasonable reliance on a court order or a written interpretation of the open meetings law contained in an opinion of a court of record, the attorney general, or the board’s attorney.

 

Date Issued: January 22, 2015

Reviewed/Updated: December 12, 2019