Any thoughts would be appreciated. Does the term "individual salaried public officer" include a board member of a public trust, when that board member does not receive any salary? The City is aldermanic, and the Council will be appointing a person to fill a vacancy on a public trust. The City is the beneficiary of this Trust.  So, the question is ultimately whether the City Council may go into executive session for this issue. One AG opinion states: Opinion No. 92-23 (1992) (Okla.Atty.Gen. Nov. 24, 1992) " ¶ 5 Your question thus appears to be answered directly by the provisions of 307 of the Open Meeting Act. Although your question specifically addresses individuals appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective county office, we find that the provision of 307 allowing executive sessions to discuss the appointment of public officials generally is broad enough to include those salaried employees and public officials who are appointed to fill vacancies." Thanks. Richard A. Cochran, Jr. City Attorney for Marietta NOTICE:  THE CONTENTS OF THIS EMAIL MAY BE CONFIDENTIAL UNDER RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA OR UNDER APPLICABLE STATE OR FEDERAL LAWS.  THIS EMAIL MAY ALSO BE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN ATTORNEY AND CLIENT, AND THEREFORE PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.  THIS EMAIL IS INTENDED FOR THE ADDRESSEE ONLY.  IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY ME BY TELEPHONE, AND PERMANENTLY DELETE THE MESSAGE. FURTHER, IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE NOTIFIED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION OR COPYING OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THANK YOU. RICHARD A. COCHRAN, JR.,  P.C. ATTORNEY AT LAW 309 WEST MAIN P. O. BOX 262 MARIETTA, OKLAHOMA 73448-0262 ---------- 580/276-5111 FAX: 888/564-1355

I think the answer to your question would be a clear no due to the fact that the position in question isn't a compensated position. 307(B)(1) requires that the position be an "individual salaried public officer or employee", so that means 3 elements related to the position: 1) must be a specific, individual or individual position, 2) must be a compensated position, and 3) must be a public office or employee. Sounds like you have a specific Trustee position (check box 1). And since it's a Trustee spot, that is a public office. *See State ex rel. Cartwright v. Oklahoma Indus. Auth.*, 1981 OK 47, 629 P.2d 1244; *see also *60 O.S. 178(A) ("Trustees, who are public officers, shall serve without compensation...") (check box 3). But it's the second "box" that isn't met. The harder question would be whether you could use a 307(B)(1) *if it was a compensated position* (i.e. if 178(A) were amended and allowed for compensation and the Trust did provide such compensation). I'm not sure that 307(B)(1) was intended to allow for an ES when you are appointing a person to a position in a separate legal entity. I'm not sure I could think of a situation where we would be appointing an "employee" to a separate legal entity. But this is certainly a situation where you could have an appointment to a public office for a separate legal entity. But that's a question for another day seeing as how this isn't and can't be a compensated position. On Mon, Dec 12, 2022 at 10:32 AM Richard Cochran < richard77.cochran@gmail.com> wrote: > Any thoughts would be appreciated. > > Does the term "individual salaried public officer" include a board member > of a public trust, when that board member does not receive any salary? The > City is aldermanic, and the Council will be appointing a person to fill a > vacancy on a public trust. The City is the beneficiary of this Trust. So, > the question is ultimately whether the City Council may go into executive > session for this issue. > > One AG opinion states: > > Opinion No. 92-23 (1992) (Okla.Atty.Gen. Nov. 24, 1992) > > " ¶ 5 Your question thus appears to be answered directly by the provisions > of 307 of the Open Meeting Act. Although your question specifically > addresses individuals appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective county > office, we find that the provision of 307 allowing executive sessions to > discuss the appointment of public officials generally is broad enough to > include those salaried employees and public officials who are appointed to > fill vacancies." > > Thanks. > > Richard A. Cochran, Jr. > > City Attorney for Marietta > > NOTICE: THE CONTENTS OF THIS EMAIL MAY BE CONFIDENTIAL UNDER RULES OF THE > SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA OR UNDER APPLICABLE STATE OR FEDERAL > LAWS. THIS EMAIL MAY ALSO BE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN ATTORNEY AND CLIENT, > AND THEREFORE PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. THIS EMAIL IS > INTENDED FOR THE ADDRESSEE ONLY. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION > IN ERROR, PLEASE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY ME BY TELEPHONE, AND PERMANENTLY DELETE > THE MESSAGE. FURTHER, IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE > NOTIFIED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION OR COPYING OF THIS > COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THANK YOU. > > RICHARD A. COCHRAN, JR., P.C. > ATTORNEY AT LAW > 309 WEST MAIN > P. O. BOX 262 > MARIETTA, OKLAHOMA 73448-0262 > ---------- > 580/276-5111 > FAX: 888/564-1355 > > > -- > Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.org >