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(A) (1) Any public body may hold a closed session by the affirmative vote of a majority of its voting members if a closed session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual and if such individual has not requested a public meeting. Closed sessions may be held for, but shall not be limited to, such reasons as:
(a) Strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate purchases, pending litigation or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body;
(b) Discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices;
(c) Investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; or
(d) Evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if such person has not requested a public meeting.
(2) Nothing in this section shall permit a closed meeting for discussion of the appointment or election of a new member to any public body.
(B) The vote to hold a closed session shall be taken in open session. The vote of each member on the question of holding a closed session, the reason for the closed session, and the time when the closed session commenced and concluded shall be recorded in the minutes. The public body holding such a closed session shall restrict its consideration to matters during the closed portions to only those purposes set forth in the minutes as the reason for the closed session. The meeting shall be reconvened in open session before any formal action may be taken. For purposes of this section, FORMAL ACTION shall mean a collective decision or a collective commitment or promise to make a decision on any question, motion, proposal, resolution, order or ordinance or formation of a position or policy, but shall not include negotiating guidance given by members of the public body to legal counsel or other negotiators in closed sessions authorized under division (A) above.
(C) (1) Any member of the public body shall have the right to challenge the continuation of a closed session if the member determines that the session has exceeded the reason stated in the original motion to hold a closed session or if the member contends that the closed session is neither clearly necessary for:
(a) The protection of the public interest; or
(b) The prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual.
(2) Such challenge shall be overruled only by a majority vote of the members of the public body.
(3) Such challenge and its disposition shall be recorded in the minutes.
(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that any meeting be closed to the public. No person or public body shall fail to invite a portion of its members to a meeting and no public body shall designate itself a subcommittee of the whole body for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this subchapter. No closed session, informal meeting, chance meeting, social gathering or electronic communication shall be used for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this subchapter.
(E) The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to chance meetings, or to attendance at or travel to conventions or workshops of members of a public body at which there is no meeting of the body then intentionally convened and there is no vote or other action taken regarding any matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.
(Prior Code, § 1-504) (Ord. 11-93, passed 10-4-1993; Ord. 2-95, passed 2-6-1995)
Statutory reference:
Related provisions, see Neb. RS 84-1410
(A) No person or public body shall fail to invite a portion of its members to a meeting, and no public body shall designate itself a subcommittee of the whole body for the purpose of circumventing this subchapter or the Open Meetings Act. No closed session, informal meeting, chance meeting, social gathering, email, fax or electronic communication shall be used for the purpose of circumventing the requirements of this subchapter or the Act.
(B) This subchapter and the Act do not apply to chance meetings or to attendance at or travel to conventions or workshops of members of a public body at which there is no meeting of the body then intentionally convened, if there is no vote or other action taken regarding any matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power.
(Neb. RS 84-1410)
(A) Subject to this subchapter and the Open Meetings Act, the public has the right to attend and the right to speak at meetings of public bodies, and all or any part of a meeting of a public body, except for closed sessions called pursuant hereto, may be videotaped, televised, photographed, broadcast or recorded by any person in attendance by means of a tape recorder, camera, video equipment or any other means of pictorial or sonic reproduction or in writing.
(B) It shall not be a violation of division (A) above for any public body to make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations regarding the conduct of persons attending, speaking at, videotaping, televising, photographing, broadcasting or recording its meetings. A body may not be required to allow citizens to speak at each meeting, but it may not forbid public participation at all meetings.
(C) No public body shall require members of the public to identify themselves as a condition for admission to the meeting, nor shall such body require that the name of any member of the public be placed on the agenda prior to such meeting in order to speak about items on the agenda. The body may require any member of the public desiring to address the body to identify himself or herself.
(D) No public body shall, for the purpose of circumventing this subchapter or the Open Meetings Act, hold a meeting in a place known by the body to be too small to accommodate the anticipated audience.
(E) No public body shall be deemed in violation of this section if it holds its meeting in its traditional meeting place which is located in this state.
(F) No public body shall be deemed in violation of this section if it holds a meeting outside of the state if, but only if, a member entity of the public body is located outside of the state and the other requirements of Neb. RS 84-1412 are met.
(G) The public body shall, upon request, make a reasonable effort to accommodate the public’s right to hear the discussion and testimony presented at the meeting.
(H) Public bodies shall make available at the meeting, for examination and copying by members of the public, at least one copy of all reproducible written material to be discussed at an open meeting. Public bodies shall make available at least one current copy of the Open Meetings Act posted in the meeting room at a location accessible to members of the public. At the beginning of the meeting, the public shall be informed about the location of the posted information.
(Neb. RS 84-1412) (Prior Code, § 1-509)
Promptly at the hour set by law on the day of each regular meeting, the members of the City Council, the Mayor, the City Clerk and such other city officials that may be required shall take their regular stations in the meeting place, and the business of the city shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the manner prescribed by the official agenda on file at the office of the City Clerk.
(Prior Code, § 1-511)
(A) Any action taken on any question or motion duly moved and seconded shall be by roll call vote of the public body in open session, and the record shall state how each member voted, or if the member was absent or not voting. The requirements of a roll call or viva voce vote shall be satisfied by a city which utilizes an electronic voting device which allows the yeas and nays of each member of the City Council to be readily seen by the public.
(B) The vote to elect leadership within a public body may be taken by secret ballot, but the total number of votes for each candidate shall be recorded in the minutes.
(Neb. RS 84-1413) (Prior Code, § 1-507)
Unless the City Council provides otherwise, the rules of parliamentary procedure specified in this section shall apply to meetings of the City Council. The Mayor shall preserve order during meetings of the City Council and shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Council. When any person is called to order, he or she shall be seated until the point is decided. When the Mayor is putting the question, no person shall leave the meeting room. Every person present, previous to speaking, shall rise from his or her seat and address the presiding officer and while speaking shall confine his or her comments to the question. When two or more persons rise at once, the Mayor shall recognize the one who spoke first. All resolutions or motions shall be reduced to writing before being acted upon, if requested by the City Clerk or any member of the Council. Every member of the Council who is present when a question is voted upon shall cast his or her vote unless excused by a majority of the members of the Council present. No motion shall be put or debated unless seconded. When seconded, it shall be stated by the Mayor before being debatable. In all cases where a motion or resolution is entered on the minutes, the name of the member of the Council making the motion or resolution shall be entered also. After each vote, the “yeas” and “nays” shall be taken and entered in the minutes. Before the vote is actually taken, any resolution, motion or proposed ordinance may be withdrawn from consideration by the sponsor with the consent of the member of the Council seconding the resolution, motion or ordinance. When, in the consideration of an ordinance, different times or amounts are proposed, the question shall be put on the largest sum or the longest time. A question to reconsider shall be in order when made by a member voting with the majority, but the motion to reconsider must be made before the expiration of the third regular meeting after the initial consideration of the question. When any question is under debate, no motion shall be made, entertained or seconded except the previous question, a motion to table, and to adjourn. Each of those motions shall be decided without debate. Any of the rules of the Council for meetings may be suspended by a two-thirds vote of the members present. In all cases in which provisions are not made by these rules, Robert’s Rules of Order is the authority by which the Council shall decide all procedural disputes that may arise.
(A) Each public body shall keep minutes of all meetings showing the time, place, members present and absent, and the substance of all matters discussed.
(B) The minutes of all meetings and evidence and documentation received or disclosed in open session shall be public records and open to public inspection during normal business hours.
(C) Minutes shall be written and available for inspection within ten working days or prior to the next convened meeting, whichever occurs earlier; except that, the city may have an additional ten working days if the employee responsible for writing the minutes is absent due to a serious illness or emergency.
(Neb. RS 84-1413) (Prior Code, § 1-506)
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