Guidance for Meetings of Governmental Bodies

Published on January 05, 2022

Wayne County Local Public Health Department

Guidance for Meetings of Governmental Bodies Held Under Public Act 228 Of 2020

Effective January 1, 2022

On September 27, 2021, I, Carol Austerberry, the Health Officer of the Wayne County Local Public Health Department, extended the Local Public Health Emergency Epidemic Order (originally issued on March 20, 2021) for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pursuant to section 333.2453 of the Public Health Code of the State of Michigan, as conditions warranted that it was necessary to continue to protect the public health from further transmission of COVID19 within Wayne County. The jurisdiction of the Wayne County Local Public Health Department is Wayne County, except for the City of Detroit.

Although COVID-19 remains an imminent threat to the public within Wayne County, governmental meetings subject to the Open Meetings Act, 1976, PA 267, must be held with the voting members in-person due to changes in the Open Meetings Act. Effective January 1, 2022, meetings of public bodies must also be accessible to members of the public, vaccinated and unvaccinated. Therefore, in consultation with Wayne County Corporation Counsel, I am issuing this guidance for local bodies within the jurisdiction of the Wayne County Local Public Health Department to ensure compliance with the Open Meetings Act, 1976 PA 267 effective January 1, 2022.

To minimize the continued airborne transmission of COVID-19 and maximize guidelines for meetings to allow for safe public access and participation to meetings during the rapidly changing COVID-19 environment, I strongly recommend that:

• All members of the public be permitted to remotely participate in any meeting of a public body, except as otherwise provided in the Open Meetings Act.
• All meetings of public bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act continue to allow for remote public participation by electronic means in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.
• Members of the public participating remotely be considered present and in attendance at the meeting with the ability to participate in the meeting as if physically present.
• In complying with the notice requirements of the Open Meetings Act, a public body should include detailed procedures by which members of the public may participate in the meeting remotely, including a telephone number, via Internet, or both, and procedures by which persons may contact members of the public body to provide input or ask questions about any business that will come before the public body at the meeting.
• A public body should continue to observe the protocol that does not require a person, as a condition of remotely participating in a meeting of the public body, to register or otherwise provide his or her name or other information or otherwise to fulfill a condition to attendance, other than mechanisms necessary to permit the person to remotely participate in a public comment period of the meeting.
• A person remotely participating should be permitted to address a meeting of a public body under rules established and recorded by the public body. A person remotely participating should not be excluded from a meeting of a public body open to the public except for a breach of the peace actually committed during the meeting.
• Members of the public remotely participating in a meeting of a public body may be excluded from participation in a closed session of the public body during that meeting if the closed session is convened and held in compliance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act applicable to a closed session. This general exclusion applies in the same manner that members of the public are excluded from a closed session when attending in-person.
• Except as otherwise provided by law, a public body holding a meeting subject to the Open Meetings Act should attempt to limit the number of people physically gathered in that meeting place to the extent necessary to ensure that individuals present remain at least six feet apart to minimize the transmission of COVID-19, particularly when in-doors.
• Nothing in this guidance is intended to allow a public body to limit or restrict the rights of the press or other news media. Public bodies are encouraged to facilitate access by members of the press and other news media both to meetings held and to members of public bodies. The physical place and time of all public meetings should be posted in compliance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act.

In issuing this guidance, the Wayne County Local Public Health Department, in consultation with the Wayne County Local Public Health Department, carefully considered the following factors:

1. Even though 64 percent of the Total Eligible population in Out Wayne County of those 5 years and older are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, certain demographic groups have not yet reached this milestone. In addition, multiple variants of concern of COVID-19, including the Delta variant and the Omicron variant (B.1.617.2 and B. 1.1.529), have been reported in the County. These variants are extremely infectious and can cause severe illness, resulting in an increased number of hospitalizations or deaths, and may reduce the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines. The presence of multiple COVID -19 variants, the high positivity rate, and the high community transmission level are metrics that increase the risk of community transmission among vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
2. To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, protect the public health and provide essential services to vulnerable individuals, it is crucial to minimize in-person contact at public meetings. Public bodies must continue to conduct public business during the pandemic, including actions and adopting measures to respond to COVID-19. The public must also be able to continue to participate in government decision-making without unduly compromising their public health, safety and welfare.

The ability to attend and participate in public meetings is maximized by allowing remote access. Such remote participation minimizes the risk of exposures associated with COVID-19 to the personal health and safety of both members of the public and members of the public bodies who are required by the Open Meetings Act to attend in-person.

These guidelines are hereby effective as of January 1, 2022, and will remain in effect unless withdrawn, extended, or replaced.

Carol Austerberry, RS, MS, MPA
Wayne County Dept. of Health, Human & Veterans Services
Division Director/Local Health Officer

Dated: January 1, 2022

Guidance for Meetings of Governmental Bodies(PDF, 52KB)