Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 610.020 (2026)

Notice of meetings, when required

✓ current as of May 2026

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610.020. Notice of meetings, when required — recording of meetings to be allowed, guidelines, penalty — accessibility of meetings — minutes of meetings to be kept, content — voting records to be included. — 1. All public governmental bodies shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting, and its tentative agenda, in a manner reasonably calculated to advise the public of the matters to be considered, and if the meeting will be conducted by telephone or other electronic means, the notice of the meeting shall identify the mode by which the meeting will be conducted and the designated location where the public may observe and attend the meeting. If a public body plans to meet by internet chat, internet message board, or other computer link, it shall post a notice of the meeting on its website in addition to its principal office and shall notify the public how to access that meeting. Reasonable notice shall include making available copies of the notice to any representative of the news media who requests notice of meetings of a particular public governmental body concurrent with the notice being made available to the members of the particular governmental body and posting the notice on a bulletin board or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose at the principal office of the body holding the meeting, or if no such office exists, at the building in which the meeting is to be held.

2. Notice conforming with all of the requirements of subsection 1 of this section shall be given at least twenty-four hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays when the facility is closed, prior to the commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given. Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to the public and of sufficient size to accommodate the anticipated attendance by members of the public, and at a time reasonably convenient to the public, unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible or impractical. Every reasonable effort shall be made to grant special access to the meeting to handicapped or disabled individuals.

3. A public body shall allow for the recording by audiotape, videotape, or other electronic means of any open meeting. A public body may establish guidelines regarding the manner in which such recording is conducted so as to minimize disruption to the meeting. No audio recording of any meeting, record, or vote closed pursuant to the provisions of section 610.021 shall be permitted without permission of the public body; any person who violates this provision shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor.

4. When it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four hours' notice, or at a place that is not reasonably accessible to the public, or at a time that is not reasonably convenient to the public, the nature of the good cause justifying that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated in the minutes.

5. A formally constituted subunit of a parent governmental body may conduct a meeting without notice as required by this section during a lawful meeting of the parent governmental body, a recess in that meeting, or immediately following that meeting, if the meeting of the subunit is publicly announced at the parent meeting and the subject of the meeting reasonably coincides with the subjects discussed or acted upon by the parent governmental body.

6. If another provision of law requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing or an intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of this section.

7. A journal or minutes of open and closed meetings shall be taken and retained by the public governmental body, including, but not limited to, a record of any votes taken at such meeting. The minutes shall include the date, time, place, members present, members absent and a record of any votes taken. When a roll call vote is taken, the minutes shall attribute each "yea" and "nay" vote or abstinence if not voting to the name of the individual member of the public governmental body.

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(L. 1973 S.B. 1 § 3, A.L. 1982 H.B. 1253, A.L. 1987 S.B. 2, A.L. 1993 H.B. 170, A.L. 1998 H.B. 1095, A.L. 2004 S.B. 1020, et al.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 19 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1977–2022 · leading case: Foster v. Vill. of Brownington, 140 S.W.3d 603 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).

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Foster v. Vill. of Brownington, 140 S.W.3d 603 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 12× “They claimed that the July 11, 1995, meeting of the Town Board was void for its failure to comply with section 610.020 RSMo; they sought determination of their legal interest to the property on which gravel was spread as a result of the Town Board’s decision at the July 11,…”

Progress Missouri, Inc. v. Missouri Senate, 494 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 7× “’s (the Senate) motion to dismiss Progress’s Petition alleging the Senate’s violation of Section 610.020, RSMo 2000, Missouri’s Sunshine Law, and seeking a declaration that the Senate had *3 violated Progress’s freedom of speech and association, with an injunction barring the…”

R.E.J., Inc. v. City of Sikeston, 142 S.W.3d 744 (Mo. 2004). · cites it 4× “Second, it was entitled to a judgment declaring the ordinance “void and unenforceable” because the city violated section 610.020, *745 RSMo 2000, 1 when enacting the ordinance and because section 610.”

Tipton v. Barton, 747 S.W.2d 325 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 3× “shall also be given as provided in § 610.020. Section 610.020(6) provides that: All public governmental bodies proposing to hold a closed .”

State Ex Rel. Churchill Truck Lines, Inc. v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 555 S.W.2d 328 (Mo. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 4× “They say that the failure to hold an open meeting is shown by the fact that the record contains no notice by the Commission of a special meeting as would have been required by Section 610.020, together with the fact that the Commission did not adopt its General Order No.”

State Ex Rel. Moore v. Brewster, 116 S.W.3d 630 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 2× “Such notice shall comply with the procedures set forth in section 610.020 for notice of a public meeting.”

Hawkins v. City of Fayette, 604 S.W.2d 716 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980). · cites it 3× “Appellant claims that there was a violation of the Sunshine Law, § 610.020, RSMo 1978, because no notice of the special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was given to the general public “[by] a reasonable method of notification” as required by that statute and, therefore, the…”

Champ v. Poelker, 755 S.W.2d 383 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 2× “§ 610.020, RSMo 1986. In order to exclude the public, a governmental body must give notice to the public and state the “reason for holding the closed session by reference to the specific exemption allowed under the provisions of section 610.”

Wilkendon P'ship v. St. Louis Cnty. Bd. of Equalization, Defendants/Respondents., 497 S.W.3d 873 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 4× “§ 610.020. 1. All public governmental bodies shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting, and its tentative agenda, in a manner reasonably calculated to advise the public of the matters to be considered 2.”

Oregon Cnty. R-IV Sch. Dist. v. LeMon, 739 S.W.2d 553 (Mo. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “Notice of the closed meeting, record, or vote shall also be given as provided in section 610.020. A closed meeting, record, or vote shall be held only to the extent a closed meeting, record, or vote is necessary for the specific reason announced and the governmental body shall…”

Pulitzer Publ'g Co. v. Missouri State Employees' Ret. Sys., 927 S.W.2d 477 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “Except as otherwise provided by law, all public meetings of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public as set forth in section 610.020, all public records of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public for inspection and copying as set forth in sections…”

Kansas City Star Co. v. Shields, 771 S.W.2d 101 (Mo. Ct. App. 1989). “],” and occurred without notice having been given under § 610.020. The matters discussed were significant, were discussed by a quorum of the committee in violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law, which is to make meetings, votes, actions and deliberations of public…”

Show all 19 citing cases →

— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 610.020(1) — 1 case

Foster v. Vill. of Brownington, 140 S.W.3d 603 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004). “They claimed that the July 11, 1995, meeting of the Town Board was void for its failure to comply with section 610.020 RSMo; they sought determination of their legal interest to the property on which gravel was spread as a result of the Town Board’s decision at the July 11,…”

— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 610.020(6) — 1 case

Tipton v. Barton, 747 S.W.2d 325 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988). “shall also be given as provided in § 610.020. Section 610.020(6) provides that: All public governmental bodies proposing to hold a closed .”

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