OMA: What is an Open Meeting (OM), and what is required by the Open Meetings Act?  "Open Meeting"  is used here as a legal term.  By law, all meetings of a township board and other township public bodies must be open to the public according to Michigan’s Open Meetings Act (OMA), Public Act 267 of 1976, MCL 15.261, et seq. 

​In a nutshell? Any time a quorum of the members of a public body gather to discuss the business of that public body (matters that will come before that body), they are considered to be officially participating in a “meeting,” and must comply with the OMA.

​We believe this is important for our constituents to know about.  Some salient points of what makes a township meeting a legally-required "open" one:

1. All deliberations by a quorum of a public body must be made at a meeting open to the public.
Definition of the verb "to DELIBERATE": to think about or discuss issues and decisions carefully, as in The jury deliberated for several days before reaching a verdict; to think about deliberately and often with formal discussion before reaching a decision; deliberate the question, as in "I was deliberating whether or not to accept the offer.”

2. All decisions of a public body shall be made at a meeting open to the public.
A public body may never vote or make a decision in closed session or outside of an open meeting. The Open Meetings Act prohibits a voting procedure at a public meeting which prevents citizens from knowing how members of a public body have voted. A vote must be made by an “all in favor” voice-vote, a roll call vote, a show of hands or other method that allows the public to know how the official is voting. Township public bodies cannot vote by paper ballot or other secret ballot.

To comply with the OMA, a public body must:

• Properly notice ALL public meetings
• Keep minutes of each public meeting and make them available to the public
• Provide an opportunity for public comment
• Do ALL business in open session
• Go into closed session ONLY for reasons permitted by the OMA
• Vote ONLY in open session

The public is allowed to participate in a public meeting in the following ways:

• All meetings must be held in a place available to the general public.
• All decisions of a public body must be made at a meeting open to the public.
• All persons must be permitted to attend any meeting, except as otherwise provided by the OMA.
• A person attending an open meeting has the right to tape record, video tape or broadcast live the proceedings of the meeting.
• At least one opportunity for public comment must be included in each public meeting.​​

The OMA provides for injunctive relief and penalties for noncompliance and intentional violation. However, the purpose of the Act is to ensure the decisions of a public body are made in public, so the primary remedy for a violation of the Act is to reenact the actions taken in compliance with the Act.

​Want more official information?  Click here for the State of Michigan (SOS) Open Meetings Act Manual.

Click here for the Michigan Township Association's OMA and Electronic Meeting Options under the Open Meetings Act.