Applicability of freedom of access law, 1 M.R.S.A. § 401, et seq., to hospital board meetings

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE The following document is provided by the LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied (searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) RICHARD S. COHEN ATTORNEY GENERAL "~1\i/11 ~--kl ~J:t/~~~i~~I ~ ~ ,~. ,,, .... ~ -~::--.... 9 S·rATt-: OF MAINE 'F' l DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AUGUSTA, MAINE 0~3:1:l Honorable Luman P. Mahany House of Representatives State House Augusta, Maine 04333 April 6, 1979 STEPHEN L. DIAMOND JOHN S. GLEASON JOHN M. R. PATERSON ROBERT J. STOLT DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL Re: Applicability of Freedom of Access Law, 1 M.R.S.A. § 401, et seq., to Hospital Board Meetings. Dear Representative Mahany: This responds to your request for an opinion as to whether hospital board meetings are open to the press and public pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 401 et seq., the Freedom of Access Law. With the exception of the Bangor Mental Health Institute and the Augusta Mental Health Institure,* all hospitals in Maine are private facilities. As such, they would not be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Access Law for the following reasons. The Legislature articulated the intent of the Freedom of Access Law in 1 M.R.S.A. § 401: The Legislature finds and declares that public proceedings exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of the Legislature that their records of their actions be open to public inspection and their deliberations be con- ducted openly. * Since your question does not appear to deal with the Bangor and Augusta Mental Health Institutes, we express no opinion as to whether, or to what extent, the meetings of those Institutes would be open to the public. -2- Section 402, subsection 2, defines "public proceedings 11 as follows: The term "public proceedings" as used in this subchapter shall mean the trans- actions of any functions affecting any or all citizens of the State by any of the following: , A. The legislature of Maine and its committees and subcommittees; B. Any board or commission of any agency of authority, the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine and any of its committees and sub- committees, +-.he administrative council of the University of Maine, the Board of Trustees of the Maine Maritime Academy and any of its committees and subcommittees; and C. Any board, commission, agency or authority of any county, mun- icipality, school district or any other political or administrative subdivision. As indicated above, with two exceptions, all hospitals in Maine are private facilities. .'\.s such, they do not fall within any of the categories listed ir: 1 M.R.S.A. § 402(2), and are therefore not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Access Law. Consequently, their board meetings are not by law open to the public or press. Attached is a copy of an earlier opinion of this office which reflects the type of information concerning a private hospital which is available for public inspection. r::2ry \fr pour' , \[JI.~~ lI--GHARD✓~_lCOHE~ Attorney General RSC/ec