Non Profits & Open Meetings

[Squire]

The board of our local Red Cross chapter does not hold open board meetings.  I live in California.  What is the law regarding public access to board meetings of non profits in CA??

Thanks, Lorraine

[Bennet]

As for your state law on Open Records and Open Meetings

See www.rcfp.org/ogg/index.php?op=browse&state=ca

specifically at "Open Meetings" about 1/2 the way down the left

column at I.C.4 "Nongovernmental bodies receiving public funds or

benefits" if that applies or any of the other sections nearby

apply to your situation.  That organization may not even be under

that classification(if it does not receive government funds and does not have a state officer on its board)

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Any board, commission, committee or similar multimember body, whether the multimember body is organized and operated by the state body or by a private corporation, is subject to the Bagley-Keene Act if:(1) it receives funds provided by a state body, and(2) it includes a member of a state body serving in his or her official capacity of that state body. Cal. Gov't Code § 11121(d).

A body that governs a private corporation or entity is subject to the Brown Act if:(1) it is created by the elected legislative body in order to exercise authority that may lawfully be delegated by the body, or(2) it receives funds from the local agency and it includes a member of the legislative body of the local agency appointed to that governing body as a full voting member by the legislative body of the local agency. Cal. Gov't Code § 54952(c). See, e.g., Epstein v. Hollywood Entertainment Dist. II Bus. Improvement Dist., 87 Cal. App. 4th 862, 869-73, 104 Cal. Rptr. 2d 857(2001); 85 Ops. Cal. Att'y. Gen. 55(2002)(private, nonprofit corporation that received funds from school district and had on its corporate board one of district's trustees with full voting rights, and was created by the City, which lawfully delegated authority to it to operate an educational access channel, was subject to CPRA and opening meetings laws).

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Harvey Mechanic, Attorney at Law - [email protected]