Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin will lead the Open Government Summit 101 to educate and inform newly-elected and appointed officials about the state’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA).
The summit will be held on Thursday, January 13, 2011 in the Bobby Hackett Theater at CCRI’s Knight Campus in Warwick. Attorney General Kilmartin and the Office of the Attorney General will hold two sessions; a morning session from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and an evening session from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
“Democracy is built on the principle of transparent, open, and accessible government, and is the key to maintaining the public’s trust of its elected officials,” said Attorney General Kilmartin. “It is critical that all public officials understand their responsibility to adhere to the state’s Open Meetings Act and Access to Public Records Act. It is also important for the public to know what they have the right to demand of their elected officials.”
This summit will include how to determine if a document is a public record, how to respond to a citizen’s request for information, and whether a particular topic may be discussed in executive (closed) session. Other statutory requirements that will be discussed include amending agendas and maintaining open and closed session minutes. Additional agenda items for the Open Government Summit 101 are still being finalized. A question-and-answer session will round out the program.
Check-in takes place from 9:00 PM to 9:30 AM for the morning session and from 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM for the evening session. Both morning and evening programs will cover similar information and will begin with remarks from Attorney General Kilmartin on the importance of Rhode Island’s open government laws, followed by an overview from the staff of the APRA and the OMA requirements.
Notice of the event was sent to hundreds of local and state officials, including mayors, town clerks, school committee and town council presidents, police chiefs, legal counsel, and state agency personnel. Registration for the event, which is free and open to the public, can be made by contacting the Attorney General’s Office at 274-4400, ext. 2101, or by sending an email to agsummit@riag.ri.gov.