N.D. Attorney General opinion: April 16 Monday, April 19, 2021

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has issued an opinion that the Covid-19 Expert Panel created by the mayor of Grand Forks was not subject to the open meetings laws because it was not created by the city council nor had it been delegated authority by the governing body.

At the suggestion of a council member, the Mayor of Grand Forks invited several community health practitioners to form an “expert panel” regarding Covid-19 pandemic related topics such as testing protocols and mitigation efforts. The panel met four times via Zoom, provided input to several city employees, and drafted an interim “report” that was discussed at the August 24, 2020, meeting of the Grand Forks city council. Although the panel performed the functions of a working group, the panel was not a committee of the city council, had not been delegated authority by the city council or a committee of the whole, and the city council did not know when it was meeting.

Read the opinion at: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/sites/ag/files/documents/Opinions/2021/OR-OM/2021-O-02.pdf