Engage · Local

Idaho's Open Meeting Law: what it requires

When a city council, county commission, school board or other public body meets to decide or discuss public business, Idaho law says the public gets to see it. Here's what that guarantees, what it doesn't, and what you can do when a body gets it wrong.

Who it covers

The law applies to the governing bodies of state and local agencies: city councils, county commissions, school boards, library and highway district boards, and the commissions and committees that make decisions or recommendations to them (Idaho Code §§ 74-202(4)–(5)). It doesn't cover courts, a single official acting alone, or private groups like nonprofits and homeowners' associations.

A meeting is any gathering of a quorum to make a decision or deliberate toward one, whether it's formal, informal or social (§ 74-202(6)). Deliberating includes trading information or opinions about a pending decision. Members can't get around this by meeting in smaller groups or passing views through a go-between, and email or text exchanges among a quorum can count too. The Attorney General's advice to public bodies: "when in doubt, open the meeting."

Notice and agendas

Regular meetings: at least 5 calendar days' notice of the meeting and 48 hours' notice of the agenda (§ 74-204(1)). Bodies that meet at least monthly can post their yearly schedule instead.
Special meetings: at least 24 hours' notice of the meeting and agenda (§ 74-204(2)). True emergencies are an exception, and the body has to say what the emergency is at the start of the meeting.
Notices go up at the agency's office and on its website or social media if it has them.
Agendas must list the specific topics, and anything the body will vote on must be marked as an action item (§ 74-204(4)). Adding an item late requires a motion explaining why it wasn't on the agenda, and final action on a late item generally requires an emergency.

The posted agenda is your best tool: if a vote you care about is coming, it has to show up there first.

Executive sessions (closed doors)

A body can close part of a meeting only for reasons listed in § 74-206(1), and those reasons are read narrowly. They include:

Hiring, evaluating or disciplining a specific employee (not general personnel policy).
Buying property not owned by a public agency.
Talking with its lawyer about pending or likely litigation.
Records that are exempt from public disclosure, labor negotiations, and a few others.

To go into executive session, the body must vote by a two-thirds roll call, citing the specific reason, and it can't drift to other topics once inside. No final decision can be made in executive session (§ 74-206). The vote has to happen in public.

What you're entitled to

To attend. Rules for orderly conduct are allowed; rules that make attending practically impossible aren't.
To record. You can record open meetings with audio, video or photos, and you can't be removed for doing it (§ 74-203(6)).
Minutes. Every meeting needs written minutes showing who was there, the motions and the results of votes, available to the public within a reasonable time (§ 74-205). No secret ballots (§ 74-203(1)).
A physical place to show up. Remote meetings are allowed, but at least one member or the agency's chief officer must be at the noticed location so the public can attend (§ 74-203(5)).

What the Open Meeting Law doesn't give you is a right to speak. Many bodies hold a public comment period by choice, and other laws require public hearings for things like zoning decisions. See how to speak at a local public meeting.

When a body breaks the law

Raise it in writing. A body that gets written notice of a possible violation has 14 days to respond publicly, and if it agrees, another 14 days to "cure" it by declaring the actions from that meeting void (§ 74-208(7)). Many problems get fixed this way.
Report it. County prosecutors enforce the law for local bodies; the Attorney General enforces it for state agencies (§ 74-208(5)). Members who knowingly violate the law can be fined personally: up to $1,500, or $2,500 for a repeat within a year, and up to $250 for taking part in a noncompliant meeting (§ 74-208(2)–(4)).
Go to court. Anyone affected by a violation can sue in the magistrate court of the county where the body meets. A suit to void an action must be filed within 30 days of the decision; other suits within 180 days of the violation (§ 74-208(6)). Private suits can void decisions but can't win penalties or damages.

The Attorney General's free Open Meeting Law Manual has the full statute and answers to dozens of common questions. It's linked below.

Sources

Last reviewed November 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the linked sources before you rely on a deadline.