The complainant alleged that the Board of Elections filed its official/approved minutes on the Secretary of State's website in an untimely manner for fourteen meetings. Several of these meetings were cancelled or did not constitute meetings. In addition, for nine of these meetings, the...
This supplemental finding addressed whether the OMA violations found in Belmore v. Newport City Council, OM 18-13 were willful or knowing. After reviewing all the evidence presented, we found insufficient evidence of a willful or knowing violation. We concurred with the City Solicitor's contention...
The Complainant alleged that the Town Council violated the OMA when the agenda for its September 11, 2017 meeting was insufficiently specific with respect to a sound variance and when the September 11, 2017 meeting minutes were insufficient and/or inaccurate. With respect to the alleged notice...
An inmate incarcerated for life in prison requested the job applications of two correctional officers and after being denied certain information, namely the name of the elementary school or secondary school last attended, the type of high school, the highest and lowest salary for prior employment...
The Cranston City Council violated the OMA when it referred a resolution, namely "No Guns in Schools" to the Ordinance Committee, yet later in the meeting – after the Complainant left the meeting – decided not to forward this resolution to the Ordinance Committee.
The Central Coventry Fire District violated the APRA when it failed to respond to the Complainant's APRA request dated September 18, 2017. The evidence revealed that the Complainant made an APRA request on September 15, 2017, which the Fire District responded to on September 18, 2017 at 4:00 PM. ...
The Warwick School Committee violated the OMA when it discussed a non-noticed item in executive session. See Pontarelli v. Rhode Island Board Council on Elementary and Secondary Education et al., 151 A.3d 301 (R.I. 2016). More specifically, the School Committee discussed a recent Rhode Island...
Complainant alleged that the City Council violated the OMA when it discussed the process for selecting a new councilmember outside of the public purview. Complainant also alleged that the interviews of candidates in executive session was improper. The submitted affidavits revealed that numerous...
The Complainant alleged that the City violated the APRA when it failed to provide a document responsive to his request. Although we had concerns whether the Complainant's request fell within the ambit of the APRA, we noted that because the Complainant already had the requested document, we only...
The Rhode Island Secretary of State sought guidance as to whether using an electronic kiosk to post Open Meetings Act information was proper. We concluded that the proposed electronic kiosk that is physically present outside the State Library complies with R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6(c). We also...
