Open Meeting Law

As a town founded and organized under the Town Meeting form of government, Lincoln has long been committed to transparency in the creation of public policy and the operations of its municipal government. State law lays out its requirements in the Open Meeting Law, revised as part of the 2009 Ethics Reform bill and codified as MGL chapter 30A, sections 18 -25.

The law requires that meetings of public bodies, with certain specific exceptions, must be held in public, and it establishes rules for announcing those meetings and for the creation and maintenance of records relating to those meetings. It has also centralized responsibility for its enforcement in the Division of Open Government within the Attorney General's Office.

The public, and public officials, can find additional information about the Open Meeting law, the Attorney General's regulations and the very helpful Open Meeting Law Guide at the Open Meeting website, www.mass.gov/ago/openmeeting.