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2018 Georgia Code 50-14-4 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 50-14-4 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 50-14-4

TITLE 50 STATE GOVERNMENT

Section 14. Open and Public Meetings, 50-14-1 through 50-14-6.

ARTICLE 2 OFFICE OF STATE ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

50-14-4. Procedure when meeting closed.

  1. When any meeting of an agency is closed to the public pursuant to any provision of this chapter, the specific reasons for such closure shall be entered upon the official minutes, the meeting shall not be closed to the public except by a majority vote of a quorum present for the meeting, the minutes shall reflect the names of the members present and the names of those voting for closure, and that part of the minutes shall be made available to the public as any other minutes. Where a meeting of an agency is devoted in part to matters within the exceptions provided by law, any portion of the meeting not subject to any such exception, privilege, or confidentiality shall be open to the public, and the minutes of such portions not subject to any such exception shall be taken, recorded, and open to public inspection as provided in subsection (e) of Code Section 50-14-1.
    1. When any meeting of an agency is closed to the public pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section, the person presiding over such meeting or, if the agency's policy so provides, each member of the governing body of the agency attending such meeting, shall execute and file with the official minutes of the meeting a notarized affidavit stating under oath that the subject matter of the meeting or the closed portion thereof was devoted to matters within the exceptions provided by law and identifying the specific relevant exception.
    2. In the event that one or more persons in an executive session initiates a discussion that is not authorized pursuant to Code Section 50-14-3, the presiding officer shall immediately rule the discussion out of order and all present shall cease the questioned conversation. If one or more persons continue or attempt to continue the discussion after being ruled out of order, the presiding officer shall immediately adjourn the executive session.

(Code 1981, §50-14-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 235, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 549, § 3; Ga. L. 2012, p. 218, § 1/HB 397.)

The 2012 amendment, effective April 17, 2012, designated the existing provisions of subsection (b) as paragraph (b)(1), and, in paragraph (b)(1), deleted "chairperson or other" preceding "person presiding" and inserted "or, if the agency's policy so provides, each member of the governing body of the agency attending such meeting,"; and added paragraph (b)(2).

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2012 amendment of this Code section, see 29 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 139 (2012). For note on 1999 amendment to this Code section, see 16 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 256 (1999).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Compliance with requirements as to minutes.

- Trial court erred in holding that minutes complied with the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 50-14-4(a) since the minutes did not reflect "the names of the members present and the names of those voting for closure," but only indicated the names of commissioners moving and seconding a motion to go into closed session. Moon v. Terrell County, 249 Ga. App. 567, 548 S.E.2d 680 (2001).

Filing of minutes and affidavits.

- Because minutes and affidavits are required to be timely recorded and made open to public inspection so that the general public knows when and where to find an official accounting of the business that transpired, the trial court erred in failing to find that the failure of the county board of commissioners to timely file an affidavit and minutes pertaining to a particular meeting constituted a violation. Claxton Enter. v. Evans County Bd. of Comm'rs, 249 Ga. App. 870, 549 S.E.2d 830 (2001).

Open Meetings Law does not apply to judicial branch.

- Legislature did not intend for the Open Meetings Law, O.C.G.A. Ch. 14, T. 50, to apply to the judicial branch of government. Therefore, a judicial commission is not subject to that chapter. Fathers Are Parents Too, Inc. v. Hunstein, 202 Ga. App. 716, 415 S.E.2d 322 (1992).

Act not violated when subsequent meeting was open.

- Because a bond and a supplemental resolution to the bond were considered at a subsequent meeting at which no closed executive session occurred, and the bond action was discussed and acted upon at the subsequent open meeting, the contentions regarding problems with the prior meeting did not affect the validity of the airport authority's ultimate decision to issue the revised bond, and the airport authority did not violate the Georgia Open Meetings Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1 et seq. Avery v. State of Ga., 295 Ga. 630, 761 S.E.2d 56 (2014).

Cited in Atlanta Journal v. Babush, 257 Ga. 790, 364 S.E.2d 560 (1988).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Notice provisions for closed meetings.

- Agency must comply with the notice provisions of the Open Meetings Law, O.C.G.A. Ch. 14, T. 50, when a meeting, as defined in the law, is to be held in closed session. Minutes available to the public are limited to the reasons for closure, the names of the members present, and the names of those voting for closure. 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U88-30.

Closure of meetings held by Drug Utilization Review Board.

- Drug Utilization Review Board may close the Board's meetings in accordance with the procedures outlined in O.C.G.A. § 50-14-4. That being said, it is up to the Department of Community Health to make the decision regarding whether to close any Board meeting. The decision to close a meeting, however, must be made on a case-by-case basis and supported both by the facts of the particular situation and the affidavit of the presiding officer justifying the closure. 2010 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U10-1.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Emergency exception under state law making proceedings by public bodies open to the public, 33 A.L.R.5th 731.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 50-14-4

Total Results: 7  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Lue, Mayor v. Eady, 297 Ga. 321 (Ga. 2015).

Cited 33 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 15, 2015 | 773 S.E.2d 679

...violates the terms of the Open Records Act, OCGA § 50-18-70 et seq. Ga. L. 2012, p. 218, § 2/HB 397. 14 See also OCGA § 50-14-1 (e) (2) (B) (requiring minutes to include the identity of “persons” making motions and voting); OCGA § 50-14-4 (b) (stating that if a meeting is closed to the public, the “person” presiding must execute an affidavit, and if one or more “persons” in an 21 however, does not name Mayor Lue in her...
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Harris v. Cox Enter., Inc., 256 Ga. 299 (Ga. 1986).

Cited 22 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Sep 5, 1986 | 348 S.E.2d 448

...of the Board of Public Safety’s executive session be prepared and submitted under seal was within the court’s discretion. An in camera inspection is necessary to determine whether the meeting comes within one of the exceptions set forth in OCGA § 50-14-4 to the provisions of OCGA § 50-14-1 et seq. Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. On Motion for Reconsideration. On motion for reconsideration, appellants urge the court to exempt certain portions of the materials from the Order...
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Atlanta Journal & Atlanta Constitution v. Babush, 257 Ga. 790 (Ga. 1988).

Cited 17 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Feb 5, 1988 | 364 S.E.2d 560, 15 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1261

...official action is to be taken shall be open to the public at all times. No resolution, rule, regulation, ordinance, or other formal action of an agency shall be binding unless taken, made, or arrived at in compliance with this chapter. ...” OCGA § 50-14-4: “This chapter shall not apply to the following: ....
...agency would simply be forced to modify the rule. Under the foregoing principles we are bound to hold the trial court erred in applying Rule E. 302 to the review of the Board. This makes it necessary to determine if the review was excluded by OCGA § 50-14-4 (6) from the open meeting requirement of the Act. 3....
...This continues to be our understanding of the purpose of the Act. In carrying out that purpose the General Assembly might have chosen to make the open meetings requirement absolute. However that was not the course followed. The Act very clearly excludes some meetings from its requirements. OCGA § 50-14-4 excludes certain investigative staff meetings, the deliberations and voting of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, meetings of law enforcement agencies including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and grand juries, meetings when any a...
...scussing the future acquisition of real estate, meetings of a public hospital considering the grant of abortions, adoption proceedings, and finally the exclusion we consider here and quoted above. The latter is known as the personnel exclusion. OCGA § 50-14-4 (6). *793The Newspapers point to sources beyond the words of the personnel exclusion in search of the legislative intent....
...The intent is too plain to require a search elsewhere. We hold that the Board’s review of the decision of the hearing officer in Coleman’s case fell within the personnel exclusion of the Open Meetings Act. During the course of the meeting the Board was either discussing disciplinary action (OCGA § 50-14-4 (6) (A)) or hearing complaints of charges brought against a public officer or employee (OCGA § 50-14-4 (6) (B))....
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Irvin v. MacOn Tel. Publ'g Co., 316 S.E.2d 449 (Ga. 1984).

Cited 14 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 31, 1984 | 253 Ga. 43, 10 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1835

...equirements of OCGA § 50-18-70. Appellants argue that even if this court determines the records sought are public records, they fall within the disclosure exception of OCGA § 50-18-72 as they are "confidential personnel files." Analogizing to OCGA § 50-14-4 (6), which exempts personnel meetings from the open meetings requirement of the Sunshine Law, appellants argue that the GBI investigative records and the order of the administrative law judge are "personnel-related" files which the legisla...
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Avery v. State of Georgia, 295 Ga. 630 (Ga. 2014).

Cited 5 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 30, 2014 | 761 S.E.2d 56

...Finally, Avery contends that the trial court erred in its determination that the Airport Authority did not violate the Georgia Open Meetings Act when it entered into an executive session at its meeting on September 18, 2013.4 The Open Meetings Act, OCGA 50-14-4, provides: (a) When any meeting of an agency is closed to the public pursuant to any provision of this chapter, the specific reasons for such closure shall be entered upon the official minutes, the meeting shall not b...
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Decatur Cnty. v. Bainbridge Post Searchlight, Inc., 632 S.E.2d 113 (Ga. 2006).

Cited 3 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jul 6, 2006 | 280 Ga. 706, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 2191, 34 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2468

...pond to said presentments." During a regularly scheduled public meeting on June 28, 2005, the Commissioners retired into executive session with their attorney to review and discuss responding to the proposed grand jury presentments. Pursuant to OCGA § 50-14-4(b), the Chairperson executed an affidavit of compliance stating that the subject matter of the executive session was devoted to matters that were within an unspecified exception to the Open Meetings Act, OCGA §§ 50-14-1 et seq....

Lue, Mayor v. Eady (Ga. 2015).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 15, 2015 | 280 Ga. 706, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 2191, 34 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2468

...any person who negligently violates the terms of this chapter,” pursuant to OCGA § 50-14- 13 See also OCGA § 50-14-1 (e) (2) (B) (requiring minutes to include the identity of “persons” making motions and voting); OCGA § 50-14-4 (b) (stating that if a meeting is closed to the public, the “person” presiding must execute an affidavit, and if one or more “persons” in an executive session speaks out of turn, the presiding officer must take certain steps); OCGA...