Planning & Administration

Open Public Meeting Act (OPMA)

Open Public Meetings

The Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) requires that all meeting of governing bodies of a public agency and any committees of such governing bodies of a public agency shall be open and public with certain limited exceptions. Notifications of meetings held by UW Bothell are coordinated by Bothell’s Planning and Administration Office. Actions taken by governing bodies or committees subject to the OPMA may be considered null and void by the State of Washington if a meeting did not meet the notification requirements of the Act.

Requirements for Regularly Scheduled Open Public Meetings

  1. Establish regular meeting schedules for all committees covered by the OPMA for the upcoming year.
  2. Post the agenda of each regular meeting on your website no later than twenty-four hours before the published time of the meeting.
  3. Members of groups subject to the open public meetings act must complete open public records training no later than ninety days after the date the member assumes his or her duties. Training is available through the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, Open Government Training. It is recommended that you document the training received per the Open Government Training website.
  4. Meetings will be null and void if any of the OPMA requirements are not met (i.e. not being open to the public, not following date/location procedures etc.)
  5. RCW 42.32.030 requires the taking of minutes for all regular and special meetings. Such minutes shall be open to public inspection. Executive sessions do not require minutes; however, if minutes are taken, they are subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act.
  6. Effective June 9, 2016, a member of a governing body who knowingly attends a meeting held in violation of the open public meetings act is subject to a civil penalty in the amount of $500 for the first offense and $1000 for subsequent offenses RCW 42.30.120.

To view policy information regarding Open Public Meetings please go to the University Administrative Policy Statement (APS) web site.

Below are the open public meetings for the UW Bothell campus.