Opinion ID: 1920961
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Committee meetings of the board where less than a quorum of the board is present.

Text: Plaintiffs contend this exception is redundant as § 471.705 has the provision [e]xcept as otherwise expressly provided by law and Minn.St. 123.33, subd. 5, requires a majority of board members for a quorum. It is reasoned then that any committee meeting of less than a quorum is not a meeting of the governing body, so such a meeting is an automatic exception under Minn.St.1971, § 471.705. [6] It is also asserted that the holding of committee meetings with less than a quorum of the board was not a subject of plaintiff's complaint, is beyond the issues raised and litigated, and should not be decided until appropriately raised in an adversary situation. We agree that if this item was not litigated in the court below it should not be made an exception with any implication that closed meetings of such committees were permitted under the law. For the same reason closed meetings of such committees should not have been prohibited by injunctive relief. Whether this type of meeting is made an exception or the general injunctive relief is limited to meetings of the board at which a quorum is present is purely a matter of semantics and format. The trial court could and should state that the question of the validity of such closed committee meetings was not litigated and that they are neither prohibited nor permitted.