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OM14-33B Buckley v. Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority

Based upon the totality of the evidence, we cannot conclude that the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority ("RITBA") willfully or knowingly violated the OMA. The facts establish that the RITBA failed to file "official and/or approved" minutes on the Secretary of State's website for its July 9, 2014 meeting in a timely manner, but the facts also demonstrate that the RITBA did not have a meeting in August 2014. See R.I. Gen. Laws ยง 42-46-7(d) (requiring "official and/or approved) minutes to be filed on the Secretary of State's website within 35 days of a meeting). Rather, the RITBA next met on September 10, 2014 and it was at that meeting that the RITBA approved the minutes for the July 9, 2014 meeting. While arguably the RITBA could have posted "official" meeting minutes on the Secretary of State's website within thirty-five days of the meeting, the lack of definition and/or any authority to guide a public body concerning what constitutes "official" minutes provides sufficient support for our conclusion.

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