§ 5-14-1.5-7.5 — Civil penalties imposed on public agency, officer, or management level employee

Indiana § 5-14-1.5-7.5

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Title 5: STATE AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
• Art. 14: PUBLIC RECORDS AND PUBLIC MEETINGS
• Ch. 1.5: Public Meetings (Open Door Law)

Text

5. (a) This section applies only to an
individual who is:
(1) an officer of a public agency; or
(2) employed in a management level position with a public
agency.
(b) If an individual with the specific intent to violate the law fails to
perform a duty imposed on the individual under this chapter by:
(1) failing to give proper notice of a regular meeting, special
meeting, or executive session;
(2) taking final action outside a regular meeting or special
meeting;
(3) participating in a secret ballot during a meeting;
(4) discussing in an executive session subjects not eligible for
discussion in an executive session;
(5) failing to prepare a memorandum of a meeting as required by
section 4 of this chapter; or
(6) participating in at least one (1) gathering of a series of
gatherings under section 3.1 of this chapter;
the individual and the public agency are subject to a civil penalty under
subsection (f).
(c) A civil penalty may only be imposed as part of an action filed
under section 7 of this chapter. A court may not impose a civil penalty
under this section unless the public access counselor has issued an
advisory opinion:
(1) to the complainant and the public agency;
(2) that finds that the individual or public agency violated this
chapter; and
(3) before the action under section 7 of this chapter is filed.
Nothing in this section prevents both the complainant and the public
agency from requesting an advisory opinion from the public access
counselor.
(d) It is a defense to the imposition of a civil penalty under this
section that the individual failed to perform a duty under subsection (b)
in reliance on either of the following:
(1) An opinion of the public agency's legal counsel.
(2) An opinion of the attorney general.
(e) Except as provided in subsection (i), in an action filed under
section 7 of this chapter, a court may impose a civil penalty against one
(1) or more of the following:
(1) The individual named as a defendant in the action.
(2) The public agency named as a defendant in the action.
(f) The court may impose against each defendant listed in
subsection (c) the following civil penalties:
(1) Not more than one hundred dollars ($100) for the first
violation.
(2) Not more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each additional
violation.
A civil penalty imposed under this section is in addition to any other
civil or criminal penalty imposed. However, in any one (1) action
brought under section 7 of this chapter, a court may impose only one
(1) civil penalty against an individual, even if the court finds that the
individual committed multiple violations. This subsection does not
preclude a court from imposing another civil penalty against an
individual in a separate action, but an individual may not be assessed
more than one (1) civil penalty in any one (1) action brought under this
section.
(g) A court shall distribute monthly to the state comptroller any
penalties collected under this section for deposit in the education fund
established by IC 5-14-4-14.
(h) An individual is personally liable for a civil penalty imposed on
the individual under this section. A civil penalty imposed against a
public agency under this section shall be paid from the public agency's
budget.
(i) If an officer of a public agency directs an individual who is
employed in a management level position to fail to give proper notice
as described in subsection (b)(1), the management level employee is
not subject to civil penalties under subsection (f).

Legislative History

As added by P.L.134-2012, SEC.16. Amended by P.L.9-2024, SEC.145.