Summary
The Minnesota Open Meeting Law was changed to allow much more flexibility in allowing remote participation in public meetings, but does not generally allow all members to participate remotely.
The Minnesota Open Meeting Law has been updated to provide greater flexibility for remote participation in public meetings. The amendments eliminated previous restrictions, such as the requirement for the remote participant’s location to be accessible to the public. Additionally, the law now mandates that meeting notices clearly indicate whether members of the meeting body can participate remotely. The revised Open Meeting Law continues to stipulate:
(1) all members of the body participating in the meeting, wherever their physical location, can hear and see one another and can hear and see all discussion and testimony presented at any location at which at least one member is present;
(2) members of the public present at the regular meeting location of the body can hear and see all discussion and testimony and all votes of members of the body;
(3) at least one member of the body is physically present at the regular meeting location; and
(4) all votes are conducted by roll call so each member’s vote on each issue can be identified and recorded
As stated above, the amended law does not allow a fully remote meeting. This policy holds unless there is a public emergency, such as a pandemic. At least one member of the body must be present at the meeting location.