Village of Wayne Board of Trustees allowed unsworn official to attend closed session

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Dear

This determination is issued pursuant to section 3.5(b) of the Open Meetings Act OMA) (5 ILCS 120/3.5(b) (West 2020)). For the reasons set forth below, the Public Access Bureau has determined that no further action is warranted as to your allegation that the Village of Wayne Board of Trustees ( Board) permitted a resident to attend a closed session discussion.

Section 3.5(a) of OMA (5 ILCS 120/3.5(a) (West 2020)) provides:

A person who believes that a violation of this Act by a public body has occurred may file a request for review with the Public Access Counselor established in the Office of the Attorney General not later than 60 days after the alleged violation. * * * The request for review must be in writing, must be signed by the requester, and must include a summary of the facts supporting the allegation. ( Emphasis added.)

Your Request for Review alleges that the Board allowed an individual who appears to have recently been elected to the Board to attend the closed session portion of its April 20, 2023, meeting. You assert that doing so violated OMA because the election has not been certified and the individual has not been sworn in or completed OMA training.

Section 2(c) of OMA 1 authorizes public bodies to enter closed session to discuss certain enumerated topics. However, " OMA does not specifically identify who may or may not attend a closed meeting[,] * * * [ and] no provision of OMA prohibits a public body from permitting any particular individual from attending a closed session." Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 35792, issued June 22, 2015, at 1. Because public bodies have discretion to permit third parties to attend closed session discussions, this office will take no further action in this matter.

This file is closed. If you have any questions, please contact me at (312) 814- 6756 or steven. silverman@ilag. gov.

Very truly yours, STEVE SILVERMAN Bureau Chief Public Access Bureau 76564 o no fi war mun mailto:e.phipps@ cc: The Honorable Eileen Phipps Board of Trustees Village of Wayne 5N430 Railroad Street Wayne, Illinois 60184 e.phipps@villageofwayne. org