The Complainant alleged that the BOC violated the OMA when it discussed and voted on a matter that was not specifically listed on the meeting's agenda. Specifically, we examined whether the BOC's denial of a motion for issuance of a subpoena was adequately noticed by the meeting's agenda item "...
Complainants alleged numerous OMA violations. With respect to the sufficiency of an agenda item for the School Committee's meeting, Complainants attended the meeting in question and had the opportunity to voice their concerns on this issue and, accordingly, we found that Complainants were not...
The City of East Providence denied the Complainant's APRA request basing its denial on its conclusion that "the documents you requested were from a meeting of individuals which does not constitute an agency or public body as defined by R.I.G.L. §38-2-2." This denial has absolutely no basis in law...
The Complainant alleged that the BOC violated the OMA when it failed to notice a second BOC meeting on July 20, 2016 and when it posted an insufficient agenda item for the BOC's meeting on August 9, 2016. The Complainant attended both meetings in question. The OMA provides that "[a]ny citizen or...
The Complainant alleged that the School Committee violated the OMA by improperly sharing her correspondence during executive session. The Complainant was unable to attend the meeting in question for unrelated reasons. The OMA provides that "[a]ny citizen or entity of the state who is aggrieved as...
The Pawtucket Police Department did not violate the APRA when it denied a request for the residential address of a person involved in a motor-vehicle accident. The information requested was available through non-APRA avenues, and if a public record under the APRA in this circumstance, the...
Complainant alleged that the Town violated the APRA when it produced only the face sheet and not the narratives of the requested internal affairs reports. Based on our prior finding in WPRI v. Woonsocket Police Department, PR 12-17, we found that the request for "the last 10 Internal Affairs...
The Complainant alleged that the City violated the APRA when it failed to produce certain documents responsive to her request. Specifically, the APRA request sought the last twelve internal affairs reports and, although the City provided twelve internal affairs reports, the Complainant alleged...
Nine complainants filed a thirty-seven page complaint alleging numerous OMA violations committed by the School District. After reviewing all the evidence submitted, the sole violation we found was that the School District took a vote in executive session to amend the executive session minutes of...
The Rhode Island Child Advocate sought an OMA advisory opinion concerning whether the Death Review Panel ("DRP") is a "public body" subject to the OMA. Based on Solas v. Emergency Hiring Council, 774 A.2d 820 (R.I. 2001) and Pontarelli v. Rhode Island Board Council on Elementary and Secondary...
