Pleasant Township Board violated OMA by requiring public commenters to sign form

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Dear and Mr. Meade:

December 21, 2017, the Public Access Bureau forwarded a copy of the Request for Review to the Township Supervisor and requested a detailed written response to allegations, together with copies of the minutes, any recordings of the meetings, a copy of the Board' s rules regarding public comment, and the public comment form.

In a letter dated January 16, 2018, the Township' s outside counsel submitted a written response, on behalf of the Township, and provided the Public Access Bureau with copies of the agenda and minutes of the Board's December 6, 2017, meeting, its rules regarding public comment, and a copy of the sign -in form from the December 6, 2017, meeting, which contains an illegible signature and an illegible topic for discussion. The Township' s public comment rules provide in pertinent part:

1. Sign in sheet. Any person who wishes to make comment during the relevant portion of a township meeting must write their name and the topic of comment on a sheet provided for that purpose prior to the meeting. If their name and topic does not appear on the sheet at the beginning of the meeting they may not make any comment at that meeting. lzi This office forwarded a copy of the Township' s response letter to he replied on January 22, 2018. also provided this office with an audio recording of the December 6, 2017, meeting.

DETERMINATION

Section 2. 06( g) of OMA ( 5 ILCS 120/ 2. 06( g) ( West 2016)) provides that " rainy person shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established and recorded by the public body." Indeed, the Attorney General has previously concluded that section 2. 06( g) of OMA " requires that all public bodies subject to the Act provide an opportunity for members of the public to address public officials at open meetings." Ill. Att' y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 14- 012, issued September 30, 2014, at 5; see also Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 14- 009, issued September 4, 2014, at 4. Under the plain language of section 2. 06( g) of OMA, public comment must be permitted in accordance with the public body's established and recorded meetings to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently. See Timmon v. Wood, 633 F. Supp. 2d 453, 465 ( W.D. Mich. 2008); see also Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 14- 0012, at 5 ( a public body may promulgate reasonable " time, place and manner" rules aimed at preserving order and decorum). However, such rules must tend to accommodate, rather than to unreasonably restrict, the right to address public officials. See IA. Rana Enterprises, Inc. v. City ofAurora, 630 F. Supp. 2d 912, at 923- 25 ( N.D. Ill. 2009).

A rule that promotes order and decorum by requiring members of the public to sign up in advance to address a public body does not violate the first amendment to the United States Constitution provided that it is reasonable in time and scope. Timmon v. Jeffries, No.

1: 08—CV- 645, 2009 WL 270043, at * 3 ( W. D. Mich. Jan. 30, 2009) ( collection of sign- up forms immediately before public comment portion of meeting was a permissible narrowly tailored restriction) see also Bach v. School Board ofCity of Virginia Beach, 139 F. Supp. 2d 738, 741 E.D. Va. 2001) ( requiring speakers to sign-up in advance of meeting is a reasonable content neutral regulation). However, an advance sign up rule that is enforced to prevent a member of the public from addressing a public body violates OMA if it is not reasonably necessary to promote a significant governmental interest. I11. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 14- 012, at 6 ( rule requiring members of the public to sign up to comment five days in advance of meetings, before the Board was required to post its agenda, imposed an unreasonable restriction on public Board meeting which concerns signing up for public comment. Early in the meeting, the Township Supervisor asked persons to sign in if they desire to speak; and the Supervisor debated that requirement. Later, after announcing it was time for public input, the Supervisor stated " We have a sign in sheet that has just a scribble on it. So this is not an actual signature. My opinion is that this is not a legible signature, deliberately * * * so we will move on." 5 The Township's response to this office explained that "[ b] ecause refused to follow the rules established by Pleasant Township in Ordinance No. 2017- 7, * * * was not allowed to speak. i6 Rather than asking the two members of the public if either had signed up to speak, and if so, allowing that person to address the public officials, the Board simply denied statutory right to speak because his signature was illegible. The Board did not provide any information indicating why the need for a legible signature was necessary to promote order and decorum at the meeting, or to further any other significant governmental interest, especially when it was readily apparent that had marked the sign-up sheet. Because the Board applied its advance sign-up rule in a manner that unreasonably restricted the right to address public officials, this office concludes that the Board violated section 2. 06( g) of OMA during its December 6, 2017, meeting.

In accordance with the conclusions of this letter, the Public Access Bureau requests that the Board provide an opportunity for the public to address it at all future meetings. We remind the Board that rules which are used for the purpose of prohibiting public comment rather than accommodating the right to address public officials impermissibly restrict the public' s statutory right to address the Board. Many public bodies that use sign -in sheets will also allow comment from other members of the public when time permits. This office suggests that the Board establish a Tess restrictive policy for public comment.

5Pleasant Township Board of Trustees, Meeting, December 6, 2017, Audio Recording.

6Letter from Trygve Thomas Meade to Edie Steinberg, [ Assistant Attorney General,] Office of the Public Access Counselor (January 16, 2018), at 1.

The Public Access Counselor has determined that resolution of this matter does not require the issuance of a binding opinion. This file is closed. If you have any questions, please contact me at ( 312) 814- 5201.

EDIE STEINBERG

Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 50750 o 206g improper pub comment mun