Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, all meetings or hearings, both regular and special, which shall include any meeting or hearing by means of electronic technology if circumstances of public health or safety emergency exists, of all municipal public bodies, including Council, its committees, and all boards and commissions, shall be open to the public, except closed meetings may be held after a majority of a quorum determines, by a roll call vote, to hold an executive session for the sole purpose of considering any of the following matters:
(1) To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official, or the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual, unless the public employee official, licensee, or regulated individual requests a public hearing. Except as otherwise provided by law no public body shall hold an executive session for the discipline of an elected official for the conduct related to the performance of his official duties or for his removal from office.
If a public body holds an executive session pursuant to this subsection, the motion to vote to hold that executive session shall state which one or more of the approved purposes listed in this subsection are the purposes for which the executive session is to be held, but need not include the name of any person to be considered at the meeting.
(2) To consider the purchase of property for public purposes, or for the sale of property at competitive bidding, if premature disclosure of information would give an unfair competitive or bargaining advantage to a person whose personal, private interest is adverse to the general public interest. No member of a public body shall use this division as a subterfuge for providing covert information to prospective buyers or sellers. A purchase or sale of public property is void if the seller or buyer of the public property has received covert information from a member of a public body that has not been disclosed to the general public in sufficient time for other prospective buyers and sellers to prepare and submit offers.
If the minutes of the public body show that all meetings and deliberations of the public body have been conducted in compliance with this section, any instrument executed by the public body purporting to convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of any right, title or interest in any public property shall be conclusively presumed to have been executed in compliance with this section insofar as title or other interest of any bona fide purchasers, lessees, or transferees of the property is concerned.
(3) Conferences with an attorney for the pubic body concerning disputes involving the public body that are the subject of pending or imminent court action;
(4) Preparing for, conducting or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment;
(5) Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or rules or state statutes;
(6) Specialized details of security arrangements where disclosure of the matters discussed might reveal information that could be used for purposes of committing, or avoiding prosecution for, a violation of the law.
If a public body holds an executive session to consider any of the matters listed in subsections (2) through (6), the motion and vote to hold that executive session shall state which one or more of the approved matters listed in those subsections are to be considered at the executive sessions.
A resolution, rule or formal action of any kind is invalid unless adopted in an open meeting of the public body. A resolution, rule or formal action adopted in an open meeting that results from deliberations in a meeting not open to the public is invalid unless the deliberations were for a purpose specifically authorized in a subsection of this section and conducted at an executive session held in compliance with this section.
(Amended 11-8-88; 11-3-20.)