The Washington state Court of Appeals in Spokane ruled Tuesday that the city of Mesa violated the state Open Public Meetings Act when it had a nondisruptive citizen arrested for recording a city council meeting. bit.ly/3i8WVxj
Two elected officials told plaintiff Donna Zink to stop recording a Mesa City Council meeting. When Zink refused, the mayor called 911. Zink was handcuffed and taken to the Franklin County jail. bit.ly/3i8WVxj
Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Judge Rebecca Pennell said, "We interpret the OPMA as prohibiting governing bodies from restricting audio or video recordings as a condition precedent to attending a public meeting." bit.ly/3i8WVxj
The Kentucky Attorney General recognized the public's right to record public meetings in 1996, but the issue has not been addressed in the courts.
https://ag.ky.gov/Priorities/Government-Transparency/orom/1996/96OMD143…
"It is, therefore, the decision of the Attorney General that a regulation, rule, or policy of a public body which uniformly prohibits the tape recording of a public meeting is arbitrary, capricious, restrictive, and unreasonable and a person should be permitted to tape record a public meeting so long as that person and his or her taping equipment do not interfere with the orderly conduct of the public meeting."
