Public Interrupting Our Meeting Outside of The Public Comment Section of the Agenda.

[OneBookToRuleThemAll]

I sit on a public board governed by the Maryland Open Meetings Act.  We generally do a good job of following the rules and welcome the public to attend our meetings. 

At times -- as I'm sure you all must have experienced -- the public will interject comments about a topic before the board outside of the public comments section.  As a rule, the chair thanks the constituent for there comment, admonishes them to wait for public comment and moves on with the meeting.    I think we -- the board -- is fine with this. 

Occaissionally, there are times during especially controversial topics when the interruptions are disruptive to the overall proceedings (e.g, several members of the audience trying to speak at once, etc.)  Once, an audience member stood up and said, "Point of order, .... "  It can be a lot.

My question:  when this happens the audience interactions are TOO much. Is it appropriate for a member of the board to interject and say something like, "Mr. Chair, point of order.  The speaker is not a member of the board and we are not open to public comment at this time."  Or some such verbiage.

Also, best advice for how you handle the public during your meetings would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Josh Martin]

On 2/2/2024 at 9:44 AM, OneBookToRuleThemAll said:

Is it appropriate for a member of the board to interject and say something like, "Mr. Chair, point of order.  The speaker is not a member of the board and we are not open to public comment at this time."  Or some such verbiage.

Yes.

On 2/2/2024 at 9:44 AM, OneBookToRuleThemAll said:

Also, best advice for how you handle the public during your meetings would be appreciated.

I don't do a lot of work with public bodies, and on the occasions that I have, I have not had these issues, so I don't have much advice for you. I've certainly witnessed the phenomenon you're describing, but so far, not in my role as a parliamentarian.

[Atul Kapur]

Unless the Open Meetings Act says otherwise, the public are still non-members of the body that is meeting and do not have the right to participate in the meeting and definitely not the right to interject or disturb the meeting.

RONR (12th ed.) 61:19 says

Quote

Any nonmembers allowed in the hall during a meeting, as guests of the organization, have no rights with reference to the proceedings (61:6–8). An assembly has the right to protect itself from annoyance by nonmembers, and its full authority in this regard—as distinguished from cases involving disorderly members—can be exercised by the chair acting alone. The chair has the power to require nonmembers to leave the hall, or to order their removal, at any time during the meeting; and the nonmembers have no right of appeal from such an order of the presiding officer.

So, if I were the chair, I would not thank the public for the interjection but just admonish (gently at first) that the public's participation is limited to the pubic content portion. I definitely would not recognize a member of the public to speak or invite their input at all outside of the public comments section. So if a member of the public stood up and requested to speak or called out "Point of Order," I would repeat the explanation that public comment is limited to the public comment period. If a member repeatedly shouted out, interjected, or otherwise interrupted, then I would look at having that individual removed. RONR gives the chair, acting alone, the power to make this decision. Your rules and the Act may require the body that is meeting to make this decision.

[OneBookToRuleThemAll]

Thank you, Atul and Josh - I appreciate your help with this. 

 

 

[Rob Elsman]

Because of security considerations, most public bodies nowadays have access to law enforcement personnel who attend meetings and enforce criminal laws regarding public disruption. It might be worthwhile to contact the board's legal counsel to determine what protection the board is allowed under the relevant laws.