Source: https://www.rcfp.org/open-government-sections/1-sound-recordings-allowed/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 20:08:38+00:00

Document:
Although audio and video recording and photographing of public meetings is customarily done, the state OMA does not address this issue. If this issue arises, the press should argue there is a legal right to photograph or record such meetings, either implicit in the OMA, or arising from the common law or constitution. Be aware, however, that in the context of access to judicial proceedings, the courts have held there is a right to attend and observe court proceedings, but no right to record. Recording in the courts is considered a privilege governed by court rules. See Alaska Rules of Court, Administrative Rule 50. (Note that as the 2018 update to this Open Government Guide went to press, the Alaska Supreme Court was considering revisions to Rule 50.) There are cases from other jurisdictions dealing with the right to record or photograph at public meetings.
Members of the press and the public have the right to make audio recordings of meetings, so long as the mechanics of recording are not disruptive. Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 83-213. Similarly, the media have the right to broadcast a meeting “live,” subject to reasonable limitations to prevent disruption or interference with the meeting. Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 77-086.
Under both Acts, any person attending an open and public meeting of a state body or a legislative body of a local agency has the right to record and broadcast the proceedings with an audio or video tape recorder or motion picture camera unless the body reasonably finds that the recording disrupts the proceedings by noise, illumination or obstruction of view. Cal. Gov't Code §§ 11124.1(a) & (c) (Bagley-Keene Act); 54953.5(a), 54953.6 (Brown Act).
Sound recordings are expressly permitted. O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(c).
Any person in attendance may make a recording if doing so does not actively interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 92-9(c). Executive (closed) meetings are excepted. Id.
Considerable confusion exists regarding recordings of board meetings. In response to a written request, the executive secretary of the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission refused to grant access to a tape recording of a Waikiki Neighborhood Board meeting made by commission staff on the grounds that "any taping of board meetings is purely a personal tool limited to assist our field staff in developing a set of draft minutes, and because no existing statute or regulation requires the mandatory tape recording of a public meeting, no tapes that may be taken of open meetings . . . are retained by this office as public documents." Letter to Audrey Fox Anderson from John A. Parish, Jr., Honolulu Neighborhood Comm'n (Dec. 28, 1983). The Commission's position is now illegal under the UIPA, which requires that access be afforded to any government record in physical form unless it is protected by statutory exemptions. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 92F-3 (1996). The recordings of open meetings if made are government records to which the public must be given access under the laws. Audio Tape Recording of the Comm'n's Pub. Meeting, OIP Op. Ltr. No. 92-13 (Aug. 13, 1992).
The statute permits the public to “observe, and record” public meetings. Ind. Code § 5-14-1.5-2(a). “Record” is not defined in the Open Door Law, but the Indiana Supreme Court has approved of the definition of “record” as “the reasonable use of recorders, cameras and any other recognized means of recording.” Berry v. Peoples Broad. Corp., 547 N.E.2d 231, 234 (Ind. 1989). The Indiana Supreme Court has held that recordings may be permissible. Id.
Another statute, Ind. Code Section 4-22-3-2, authorizes live or recorded broadcasts of state administrative agency proceedings. “Record” is not defined or limited to audio. See also Att’y Gen. Op. 84-9 (1984) (“A citizen has the right to be present at a public meeting, other than an executive session, and to record the meeting by videotaping, taping, shorthand, or any other recognized method of recording subject to reasonable restrictions as to equipment and use which may be imposed by the public agency.”). It is customary to allow sound recording of meetings.
Sound recording is allowed. See Ky. Rev. Stat. 61.840.
Although Ky. Rev. Stat. 61.840 only expressly gives the news media the right to record and broadcast a public meeting, the Attorney General has sensibly concluded that a private citizen "should be permitted to tape record a public meeting so long as that person and his or her taping equipment do not interfere with the orderly conduct of the public meeting." 96-OMD-143.
Anyone present at a public meeting may make a record of the proceedings on video or tape (audio), "film" the proceedings (presumably including both still photography and motion pictures), or broadcast them live. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 42:23(A); Op. Att'y Gen. 95-277; Op. Att'y Gen. 94-14. But a regulation by a public body prohibiting recording of executive sessions by members does not violate the Open Meeting Law. Dean v. Guste, 414 So.2d 862 (La. App., 4th Cir.), writ denied, 417 So.2d 366 (La.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1070, 103 S.Ct. 489 (1982). The public body shall establish standards to insure proper decorum when lighting, recording, or broadcasting equipment is in use. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. 42:23(B); Op. Att'y Gen. 95-277.
Mont. Code Ann. § 2-3-211, guarantees attendees the right to take photographs, televise, or record meetings so long as these activities do not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. The judicial branch follows the ABA standards on recording or televising court proceedings. Generally, the district courts, both federal and state are vested with discretion to regulate the recording of any judicial proceeding to guarantee the decorum of the court.
Sound recordings or any other means of sound reproduction are permissible so long as they do not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. NRS 241.035(3).
Persons attending the meetings have the right "to use recording devices, including, but not limited to, tape recorders, cameras and videotape equipment." RSA 91-A:2,II. Although the Statute does not specifically authorize live broadcast, it would appear that news organizations may do so if the broadcast can be accomplished by a "recording device." An audio recording of a public meeting to be used to compile the minutes is a public record, and the public has a right to listen to it and make a copy. RSA 91-A:4, II.
Reasonable efforts shall be made to accommodate the use of audio and video recording devices. NMSA 1978 § 10-15-1(A). If meetings are recorded, the recording is a matter of public record, and an agency cannot deny access to it on the basis that the recording was not originally required to be made. New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, Inspection of Public Records Act Compliance Guide, 24-25 (8th ed. 2015).
An Ohio Attorney General's Opinion states that audio or video recording of meetings is permissible if it does not unduly interfere with the meeting. 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 88-087.
Audio and video taping of meetings by news organizations is fairly common.
There are no statutory provisions dealing with private recordings of the proceedings. The Attorney General has determined that members of the public cannot be prevented from “unobtrusively recording” proceedings. 38 Op. Atty. Gen. 50 (1976). The presiding officer of the governing body has the authority to impose reasonable restrictions for the efficient and orderly conduct of a meeting, however.
No specific provision in statute, but allowed by case law. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island found a prohibition against taping meetings without the express knowledge and consent of a school committee to be unconstitutional. The court found that the OML required the school committee to allow members of the press and the public to tape record its meetings, subject to reasonable restrictions. Belcher v. Mansi, 569 F.Supp. 379 (D. R.I. 1983).
Tape recording of public meetings is allowed. S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-90(c).
“A public body shall electronically record all public hearings held to provide a forum for public comment on a proposed rule, pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 840. The public shall have access to copies of such electronic recordings” as public records. 1 V.S.A. § 312(a)(1).
Any person may record any portion of a meeting required to be open. Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3707.G.
The requirement that minutes be taken at a meeting merely states that minutes must be "recorded"; the statute is silent as to the method of recording. Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-403(c). In the absence of any contradicting law or holding Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-201(a)(v) includes a sound recording in the definition of "public record." A state district court judge has allowed a videotape recording of a school board meeting as long as the meeting was not disrupted.

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