Opinion says EOB should open meetings

Thursday, July 1, 2004 | 10:40 a.m.

The Nevada attorney general's office has issued an opinion that the Economic Opportunity Board is not subject to the state's open-meeting law but should open its meetings under its own bylaws.

Attorney General Brian Sandoval, in a June 25 written opinion, also recommended that the Nevada Department of Human Resources -- which oversees about $28 million in public funding provided to the EOB for child care and other programs -- should consider requiring all recipients of such funding to comply with the state open-meetings law.

Sandoval found that the Clark County-based nonprofit organization, which has been the subject of two federal and one state review regarding fiscal and program management problems, is not a public body as defined under Nevada law.

"This office is therefore without jurisdiction to investigate or prosecute ... alleged violations of the open-meeting law," Sandoval wrote.

"This office will seek clarification of the law in the 2005 legislative session, as to whether nonprofit agencies receiving state and federal funds should be subject to the open-meeting law."

Sandoval wrote in his opinion that the EOB "should comply with its bylaws requiring all regular and special meetings to be open to the public except those portions dealing with personnel matters."

A complaint filed with Sandoval's office alleges that on March 18 the EOB held a closed meeting in violation of Nevada's open-meeting law and that on March 31 the EOB violated the law by taking action in closed session and by publishing an agenda "that was not clear and complete," the opinion said.

Sandoval wrote that state law requires a public body to be an "administrative, advisory, executive or legislative body of the state or local government." The EOB is a private Nevada nonprofit corporation, Sandoval wrote.

The EOB had a 2003 budget of about $60 million, most of which comes from taxpayers, and it is charged with administering programs such as Head Start throughout the Las Vegas Valley.