Opinion ID: 1670369
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Sunshine Law provides:

Text: (a) No executive or secret session shall be held by any of the following named boards, commissions or courts of Alabama, namely: Alabama Public Service Commission; school commissions of Alabama; board of adjustment; state or county tax commissions; any county commission, any city commission or municipal council; or any other body, board or commission in the state charged with the duty of disbursing any funds belonging to the state, county or municipality, or board, body or commission to which is delegated any legislative or judicial function; except, that executive or secret sessions may be held by any of the above named boards or commissions when the character or good name of a woman or man is involved. (Emphasis added.) Most of the previous cases that this Court has decided involving the Sunshine Law have dealt with entities expressly listed in the Sunshine Law. See, e.g., Slawson v. Alabama Forestry Comm'n, 631 So.2d 953 (Ala.1994) (Alabama Forestry Commission); Dunn v. Alabama State Univ. Bd. of Trustees, 628 So.2d 519 (Ala.1993), overruled on other grounds, Watkins v. Board of Trustees of Alabama State Univ., 703 So.2d 335 (Ala. 1997) (state university board of trustees); Gray v. Birmingham Bd. of Educ., 641 So.2d 279 (Ala.Civ.App.1993) (board of education); Kucik v. Opelika City Bd. of Educ., 454 So.2d 967 (Ala. 1984) (board of education); Ex parte Alabama Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 376 So.2d 665 (Ala.1979) (Alabama Public Service Commission); and Miglionico v. Birmingham News Co., 378 So.2d 677 (Ala.1979) (a city council). Cases involving entities not specifically listed in the statute include City of Wetumpka v. Central Elmore Water Authority, 703 So.2d 907 (Ala.1997) (involving a water authority but not reaching the issue of the applicability of the Sunshine Law to the authority); and Advertiser Co. v. Wallis, 493 So.2d 1365 (Ala.1986) (holding that the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and the Alabama Medicaid Agency were not boards for purpose of the Sunshine Law). A reading of the statute discloses that neither public corporation nor water board is expressly listed as a body subject to the Sunshine Law. Whether the Sunshine Law is applicable to water boards incorporated as public corporations pursuant to § 11-50-310 et seq. appears to be a question of first impression. In interpreting a statute, this Court must ascertain and effectuate the intent of the Legislature as expressed by the statute. Employees' Retirement Sys. of Alabama v. Head, 369 So.2d 1227 (Ala. 1979). When determining legislative intent from the language used in a statute, a court may explain the language, but it may not detract from or add to the statute. Siegelman v. Chase Manhattan Bank (USA), Nat'l Ass'n, 575 So.2d 1041, 1045 (Ala.1991). When the language is clear, there is no room for judicial construction. Employees' Retirement System, 369 So.2d at 1228. Because neither a public corporation nor a water board is expressly enumerated as a body subject to the prohibitions of the Sunshine Law, we must interpret the meaning of the catchall phrases, any other body, board or commission in the state charged with the duty of disbursing any funds belonging to the state, county or municipality, or board, body or commission to which is delegated any legislative or judicial function. § 13A-14-2(a). Randolph relies upon Hicks's testimony, in which he described the Board as a utility receiving and disbursing public grants; providing water, sewer, and garbage services and collecting fees from the public for those services; and receiving and disbursing public funds. The burden rested upon Randolph to prove the basic fact of his case, namely, that the conduct complained of took place under circumstances that brought him within the protective purview of the statute under which he claims relief. Daughtry v. Western Ry. of Alabama, 341 So.2d 702, 706 (Ala.1977). In order to establish the applicability of the Sunshine Law, Randolph had the burden of proving that public funds or grants received or disbursed by the Board were funds belonging to the state, county or municipality (§ 13A-14-2(a)); this he failed to do. Section 11-50-314, the statutory basis for the creation of the Board, contemplates that the monies used by such a public corporation in the operation of its business shall come from the revenues generated by the operations of its system and through the borrowing of money. Such a public corporation is authorized to issue bonds to generate revenue, and the contemplated use of such funds is for the operation of the system. § 11-50-314(a)(5) and §§ 11-50-316 through -318. Nowhere in that statute is the public corporation authorized to disburse state, county, or municipal funds. The fact that the customers of the system operated by the public corporation also are residents of the municipality does not convert the revenue received from those customers into municipal funds. The applicability of the remaining catchall phrase, board, body or commission to which is delegated any legislative or judicial function (§ 13A-14-2(a)), is equally unsupported by this record. Randolph does not contend that this phrase is applicable. No basis exists in § 11-50-310 et seq., the statutory basis for the existence of the Board, upon which to conclude that the Board exercises delegated legislative or judicial functions. We conclude that the Sunshine Law does not apply to a public corporation organized under § 11-50-310 et seq., such as the Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Selma. We therefore pretermit consideration of all other issues. We reverse the judgment of the trial court, including the award of attorney fees, and render a judgment in favor of the Board. REVERSED AND JUDGMENT RENDERED. MOORE, C.J., and HOUSTON, JOHNSTONE, and WOODALL, JJ., concur.