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RELEVANT LINKS: <br />Minn. Stat. § 131.01, subd. 1. <br />Southern Minnesota <br />Municipal Power Agency v. <br />Boyne, 578 N.W.2d 362 <br />(Minn. 1998). <br />Moberg v. Indep. Sch. Dist. <br />No. 281, 336 N.W.2d 510 <br />(Minn. 1983). St. Cloud <br />Newspapers, Inc. v. Dist. 742 <br />Com nmity Schools, 332 <br />N.W.2d 1 (Minn. 1983). <br />Minn. Stat. § 412 191, subd. <br />1. Minn. Stat. § 645.08 (5). <br />See section 11-G-6 for more <br />information about serial <br />meetings. <br />Minn. Stat. § 131.01, subd. 3. <br />Minn. Stat. § 131.05, subd. 1 <br />(d). <br />IPAD 14-005. <br />IPAD 13-012. <br />D. Groups governed by the open meeting law <br />The open meeting law applies to all governing bodies of any school district, <br />unorganized territory, county, city, town or other public body, and to any <br />committee, sub -committee, board, department or commission of a public <br />body. <br />Thus, the law applies to meetings of all city councils, planning commissions, <br />firefighter relief associations, economic development authorities, and <br />housing redevelopment authorities, among others. <br />The Minnesota Supreme Court has held, however, that the governing body <br />of a municipal power agency, created under Minn. Stat. §§ 453.51-453.62, is <br />not subject to the open meeting law because the Minnesota Legislature <br />granted these agencies authority to conduct their affairs as private <br />corporations. <br />E. Gatherings governed by the open meeting law <br />The open meeting law does not define the term "meeting." The Minnesota <br />Supreme Court, however, has ruled that meetings are gatherings of a quorum <br />or more of the members of the governing body, or a quorum of a committee, <br />subcommittee, board, department, or commission thereof, at which members <br />discuss, decide, or receive information as a group on issues relating to the <br />official business of that governing body. <br />A majority of the members of a statutory city council constitutes a quorum. <br />A majority of the qualified members of any board or commission also <br />constitutes a quorum. Home rule charter cities may have different quorum <br />requirements. <br />The open meeting law does not generally apply in situations where less than <br />a quorum of the city council is involved. However, serial meetings in groups <br />of less than a quorum that are held in order to avoid the requirements of the <br />open meeting law may be found to violated the law, depending on the <br />specific facts. <br />F. Open meeting law exceptions <br />There are seven exceptions to the open meeting law. Under these exceptions, <br />some meetings may be closed and some meetings must be closed. Before a <br />meeting is closed under any of the exceptions, the council must state on the <br />record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describe <br />the subject to be discussed. <br />The commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Administration has <br />advised that a member of the public body (and not its attorney) must make <br />the statement on the record. <br />League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 11/14/2014 <br />Meetings of City Councils Page 10 <br />