White Pine County's district attorney told the county commission March 25 that the Ely Times is the first line of enforcement of the Nevada Open Meeting Law.

“The Ely Times is the first enforcer and will file a complaint,” said District Attorney Richard Sears during a presentation on the OML. “When I have seen open meeting law complaints come forward, they have come from the Ely Times. A huge red flag goes up. John (Plestina) knows immediately that a rule has been broken.”

Open meeting law violations are misdemeanors and are subject to prosecution, he said.

Then Sears touched on one function of the OML. “The purpose of the Open Meeting Law is to allow people to come and watch government work,” he said. The other side of that, Sears added, is people who might be disruptive and comment on every issue considered by the county commission.

Public comment periods are in place for members of the public to offer opinions at county commission, city council and other public meetings.

If a person makes inappropriate or slanderous comments during a public comment period, Sears offered advice. “It's real simple. You tell them to sit down,” he said, adding that the next step would be to call the sheriff's department.

Sears used the news media as an example. “A newspaper has to make actual statements of malice,” he said. The law also might apply if the board or commission discusses issues that are not on an agenda because the public might not know the issue is being discussed. Sears said on-going business at the top of every White Pine County Commission agenda might be a problem because the public might not know the commission is going to discuss an issue.

The OML applies any time there is a sufficient number of members of a board or commission constitutes a quorum.

“It's a rule that is very easy to break,” Sears said.

White Pine County went from a three-member commission to five members in 1982.

“If you've got a county with three commissioners (some Nevada counties do) you can violate the open meeting law by going to a bar or going to church,” Sears said.

While the county commission, the Regional Planning Commission and other advisory boards are subject to the open meeting law, state and federal lawmakers are not.

Sears said the OML contains “some peculiar rules that apply just in White Pine County.”

The County Commission and Regional Planning Commission are charged primarily with rule making while the county's Board of Equalization judges fiscal matters including whether to increase debt service or whether not to.

“A hot topic that occasionally gets broken is closed personnel sessions,” Sears said noting that the person being discussed must be notified in advance that he or she will be discussed. Also, he said, executive sessions are not permitted for discussions about elected officials and other public officials with administrative duties.

Closed sessions are sometimes held because boards and commissions fear civil consequences for slander and defamation.

Sears also touched on conflicts of interest by public officials, saying that no elected official should ever vote on anything that has a potential to benefit themselves. A county commissioner with a conflict of interest must step aside and not vote or offer an opinion or advocate for the issue in any way but may answer questions if necessary.