Filed Date: 5/13/1980
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Hon. John W. Sutton Town Attorney, Town of Galway
This is in response to your request for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to the following questions:
1. May a town board totally preclude the use of tape recorders at public meetings of such board?
2. Does a town board have the authority to compel the zoning board of appeals and the planning board of such town to tape record their meetings?
Prior opinions of this office have concluded that town boards and village boards of trustees have the authority to prohibit the use of tape recorders by the public and by members of such boards during sessions of their respective board meetings (1969 Atty Gen 157; 1970 Atty Gen 87; 1972 Atty Gen 239). These opinions relied on the decision in Matter ofLeon Davidson v Common Council of the City of White Plains, New York,
However, since Matter of Davidson was decided, another Court in People vYstueta,
"Matter of Davidson (supra) was decided in 1963, some 15 years before the legislative passage of the `Open Meetings Law', and before the widespread use of hand-held cassette recorders which can be operated by individuals without interference with public proceedings or the legislative process."
Based upon the sound reasoning expressed in the Ystueta decision, which we believe would be equally applicable to town board meetings, we conclude that a town board may not preclude the use of tape recorders at public meetings of such board. Our adoption of the Ystueta decision requires that the instant opinion supersede the prior opinions of this office, which are cited above, and which were rendered before Ystueta was decided.
We have limited our opinion to the tape recording of meetings which are open to the public, and we do not address the situation in which a public body enters into executive session, where the exclusion of the public is expressly provided for by the Open Meetings Law (Public Officers Law §
You also question whether a town board may compel the zoning board of appeals and the planning board of such town to tape record their meetings. While the Open Meetings Law sets the minimum access which must be afforded to the public, public bodies are free to adopt provisions which are less restrictive with respect to public access than the "Open Meetings Law" (Public Officers Law §
While Town Law §
In 1976, the Municipal Home Rule Law was amended to authorize each town in the State to adopt local laws amending or superseding provisions of the Town Law relating to the property, affairs or government of the individual town unless the Legislature has expressly prohibited the adoption of such a local law or the provision deals with one of four enumerated areas of governmental powers (Municipal Home Rule Law §
Consequently, it appears that in regard to public meetings of a zoning board of appeals and a town planning board, the town board may by local law compel such boards to tape record their meetings.
However, in regard to those sessions of the boards which are properly conducted in private in order to insure free discussion, we believe that a town board may not compel such boards to tape record their private discussions. In the Matter of Orange County Publications v Council of theCity of Newburgh,
Therefore, we conclude that a town board may not preclude the use of tape recorders at public meetings of such board and that a town board may by local law compel the zoning board of appeals and the planning board of such town to tape record their public meetings but may not compel them to tape record their private discussions and deliberations.