What notice must a Mississippi county board of supervisors give for recessed, adjourned, or interim meetings?

Plain-English summary

Harrison County's Board attorney followed up on an October 2021 opinion about special-meeting notice with a question about other types of board meetings: recessed, adjourned, and interim. Should the Board use Section 19-3-19's specific notice provision or Section 25-41-13's general Open Meetings Act notice provision?

The AG answered: both. Section 25-41-13 is "supplemental to specific procedures prescribed by statute for public bodies." So:

• Recessed meetings (Section 19-3-17): "Recess from time to time, subject to the limitation herein provided, to convene on a day fixed by an order of the board entered on its minutes." The Mississippi Supreme Court has explained recessed meetings as a "suspension of business." (Byrd v. Byrd.) The notice required is an order on the minutes fixing the day. PLUS Section 25-41-13(1)(a)'s notice posting (within one hour of the call, prominent place, included in minutes).
• Adjourned meetings (Section 19-3-19): "[T]he board of supervisors may, at a regular meeting, by an order on its minutes, adjourn to meet at any time it may determine upon." The Supreme Court defined an adjourned meeting as "one ordered by the board at a regular meeting, and which is to convene after the termination of such regular meeting and prior to the next regular meeting." Same dual notice obligation: statute-specific order on minutes AND Section 25-41-13(1)(a) posting.
• Interim meetings: Term not used in Section 19-3 et seq. So Section 25-41-13(1)(a) governs (which does mention "interim meeting" by name).

For boards in counties of more than 40,000 population, Section 19-3-17 limits recessed-meeting time to 12 days per month for regular business (per the 2007 Yancey opinion).

What this means for you

For county board attorneys

The opinion's holding is that the two notice schemes are not alternatives. For recessed and adjourned meetings of a board of supervisors, both apply: the board-of-supervisors notice in Section 19-3-17 (recessed) or Section 19-3-19 (adjourned), which is an order entered on the minutes fixing the day, plus the Open Meetings Act posting in Section 25-41-13(1)(a). For interim meetings, the opinion notes the term does not appear anywhere in Section 19-3-1 et seq., so Section 25-41-13(1)(a) is the notice provision that addresses them.

For boards of supervisors

When the board recesses or adjourns to a later day, the opinion holds it must do two things: enter the order on its minutes fixing the day (Sections 19-3-17 and 19-3-19), and post the Section 25-41-13(1)(a) notice within one hour after the meeting is called. The opinion treats the posting requirement as in addition to, not a substitute for, the minutes order.

For citizens and journalists monitoring county government

The opinion confirms that recessed, adjourned, and interim meetings each require the Section 25-41-13(1)(a) posting: a notice of place, date, hour, and subject matter posted within one hour after the meeting is called, in a prominent place in the building where the body normally meets, with a copy made part of the minutes or other permanent records.

Common questions

Q: What's the difference between a "recessed" and "adjourned" meeting?
A: Drawing on Byrd v. Byrd, the opinion describes a recessed meeting as a suspension of business. An adjourned meeting is "one ordered by the board at a regular meeting, and which is to convene after the termination of such regular meeting and prior to the next regular meeting."

Q: What's an "interim meeting"?
A: The opinion says the term does not appear anywhere in Section 19-3-1 et seq. It is one of the meeting types Section 25-41-13(1)(a) names as requiring the posted notice, but the board-of-supervisors statutes do not separately define or address it.

Q: What notice does Section 25-41-13(1)(a) require?
A: The opinion quotes it: "A notice of the place, date, hour and subject matter of any recessed meeting, adjourned meeting, interim meeting or any called special meeting shall be posted within one (1) hour after such meeting is called in a prominent place available to examination and inspection by the general public in the building in which the public body normally meets. A copy of the notice shall be made a part of the minutes or other permanent official records of the public body."

Q: Can the Board of Supervisors recess for more than 12 days per month?
A: Citing the Yancey opinion and Section 19-3-17, the opinion notes that counties with a population of more than forty thousand may not meet for a period exceeding twelve days in any one month to conduct regular business. It quotes In re $30,000 Road and Bridge Bonds of 1960: "the board of supervisors can recess from day to day, skip a day, and recess to a future day, so long as the days consumed do not exceed" the statutory allotment.

Q: Does the order on the minutes by itself satisfy the notice rule?
A: No. The opinion is explicit that the order on the minutes under Section 19-3-17 or 19-3-19 and the Section 25-41-13(1)(a) posting are both required for recessed and adjourned meetings. The Open Meetings Act requirement is supplemental to the board-of-supervisors procedure, not replaced by it.

Background and statutory framework

Mississippi's Open Meetings Act (Section 25-41-1 et seq.) requires public bodies to give notice of meetings and conduct them publicly. Section 25-41-13 sets the notice rules.

Section 25-41-13(1) starts: "Any public body which holds its meetings at such times and places and by such procedures as are specifically prescribed by statute shall continue to do so and no additional notice of such meetings shall be required except that:" followed by Section 25-41-13(1)(a) for recessed, adjourned, interim, and called special meetings.

The exception language is the key: even where another statute sets specific notice procedures (like Sections 19-3-17 and 19-3-19 for boards of supervisors), the Section 25-41-13(1)(a) posting still applies for the listed meeting types. The general notice requirement supplements, doesn't replace, the specific notice.

Sections 19-3-17 and 19-3-19 are the board-of-supervisors-specific framework for recessed and adjourned meetings. They require an order on the minutes fixing the day. The 1961 Mississippi Supreme Court decision in In re $30,000 Road and Bridge Bonds and the 1942 Byrd v. Byrd decision provide the conceptual definitions.

The 2021 Holleman opinion (referenced in this opinion) addressed special meetings of boards of supervisors. The 2022 follow-up addresses the related categories of recessed, adjourned, and interim meetings. Together, they outline the full notice framework for non-regular board meetings.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-17, recessed meetings
• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-19, adjourned meetings (referenced as the special-meeting authority too)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-13, Open Meetings Act notice

Cases cited:

• In re $30,000 Road and Bridge Bonds of 1960, Sup'rs Dist. No. 3, Neshoba Co., Mississippi, 133 So. 2d 267, 273 (Miss. 1961), recess from day to day within statutory limits
• Byrd v. Byrd, 8 So. 2d 510, 512-513 (Miss. 1942), defining recessed and adjourned meetings

Prior AG opinions cited:

• MS AG Op., Holleman (Oct. 29, 2021), special-meeting notice
• MS AG Op., Yancey (July 27, 2007), 12-day recess limit for counties >40,000

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/T.Holleman-February-24-2022-Notice-for-Recessed-Adjourned-and-Interim-Meetings.pdf

Original opinion text

February 24, 2022

Tim C. Holleman, Esq.
Harrison County Board Attorney
1720 23rd Avenue
Gulfport, Mississippi 39501

Re: Notice for Recessed, Adjourned, and Interim Meetings

Dear Mr. Holleman:

The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.

Background

Your request is in response to an opinion of this office issued to you on October 29, 2021, regarding notice of special meetings of the Harrison County Board of Supervisors. You now request additional information regarding notice for other types of meetings.

Question Presented

Should the notice provision in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 19-3-19 or Section 25-41-13 be used by counties for purposes of calling recessed, adjourned, or interim meetings?

Brief Response

The general notice requirements of the Open Meetings Act, Section 25-41-13, are in addition to the notice requirements for meetings of county boards of supervisors in Section 19-3-17 for recessed meetings and Section 19-3-19 for adjourned meetings.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Section 25-41-13 is the notice section of the Open Meetings Act, which applies to public bodies including, but not limited to, county boards of supervisors. It is supplemental to specific procedures prescribed by statute for public bodies. Miss. Code Ann. § 25-41-13(1). As stated in the previous opinion issued to you by this office, Section 25-41-13(1)(a) provides, in pertinent part:

(1) Any public body which holds its meetings at such times and places and by such procedures as are specifically prescribed by statute shall continue to do so and no additional notice of such meetings shall be required except that:

(a) A notice of the place, date, hour and subject matter of any recessed meeting, adjourned meeting, interim meeting or any called special meeting shall be posted within one (1) hour after such meeting is called in a prominent place available to examination and inspection by the general public in the building in which the public body normally meets. A copy of the notice shall be made a part of the minutes or other permanent official records of the public body . . . .

MS AG Op., Holleman at *1 (Oct. 29, 2021) (emphasis added).

The terms recessed, adjourned, and interim are not defined by statute, but recessed and adjourned meetings are addressed in Sections 19-3-17 and 19-3-19, respectively. Section 19-3-17 states, in part, that "the board of supervisors may recess from time to time, subject to the limitation herein provided, to convene on a day fixed by an order of the board entered on its minutes, and may transact any business coming before it for consideration." Counties with a population of more than forty thousand may not meet for a period exceeding twelve days in any one month to conduct its regular business. MS AG Op., Yancey at *1 (July 27, 2007) (citing Section 19-3-17).

According to the Mississippi Supreme Court, "[i]t is apparent that the board of supervisors can recess from day to day, skip a day, and recess to a future day, so long as the days consumed do not exceed" the statutorily allotted days. In re $30,000 Road and Bridge Bonds of 1960, Sup's Dist. No. 3, Neshoba Co., Mississippi, 133 So. 2d 267, 273 (Miss. 1961). Essentially, a recessed meeting is a suspension of business. Byrd v. Byrd, 8 So. 2d 510, 512 (Miss. 1942). The notice required for a recessed meeting according to Section 19-3-17 is an order by the Board entered on its minutes fixing a day for the meeting. Additionally, the requirements of Section 25-41-13(1)(a), supra, also must be met.

Unlike a recessed meeting, an adjourned meeting is "one ordered by the board at a regular meeting, and which is to convene after the termination of such regular meeting and prior to the next regular meeting." Byrd at 513. Section 19-3-19 states that "[t]he board of supervisors may, at a regular meeting, by an order on its minutes, adjourn to meet at any time it may determine upon." Like recessed meetings, Section 25-41-13 also requires additional notice for adjourned meetings in order to comply with the Open Meetings Act. See Section 25-41-13(1)(a), supra.

As to interim meetings, the term does not appear in the entirety of Section 19-3-1, et seq.

In conclusion, the statutory notice requirements of Sections 19-3-17 and 19-3-19 must be met as well as the additional Open Meetings Act requirements for recessed and adjourned meetings under Section 25-41-13(1)(a).

If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: /s/ Misty Monroe
Misty Monroe
Special Assistant Attorney General