The Richmond County Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting Monday, August 24, at the Richmond County Airport before returning to its regular monthly schedule in September.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. According to a notice issued by Board Clerk Dena Cook, the stated purpose is for commissioners to enter a closed session under North Carolina General Statute 143-318.11(a)(6).
That section of state law allows a public body to meet privately to discuss certain matters involving an individual public officer, employee or prospective employee. Those discussions may include qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, appointment or conditions of employment. The law also permits a closed session to hear or investigate a complaint, charge or grievance involving an individual.
Meeting begins in open session
The special meeting itself is open to the public. Commissioners must first convene publicly before voting to enter the closed portion of the meeting. Members of the public may attend the open session but are not permitted to remain during the confidential personnel discussion.
The meeting notice does not identify the employee, officer or prospective employee who may be discussed. It also does not indicate whether commissioners expect to take any action after returning to open session.
Because the personnel exception protects confidential employment information, the board is not expected to disclose the substance of its private discussion. However, commissioners must return to open session before taking any final action that state law requires to be public.
Under North Carolina law, final action involving an appointment, discharge or removal must be taken in an open meeting when the public body has final authority over that decision. General personnel policy issues also may not be considered during a closed session under the personnel exception.
Closed session was removed from August agenda
Commissioners were initially scheduled to enter a closed session under the same section of state law during their regular August meeting. That agenda item was removed because of the number of people who had registered to speak during public comment.
Although Monday’s meeting will take place at the Richmond County Airport, the public notice describes its purpose as a personnel discussion. The notice does not connect the closed session to airport operations, and no additional subject has been announced publicly.
The location alone should therefore not be interpreted as evidence that the matter involves the airport or an airport employee. The notice provides only the statutory personnel exemption, and the identity of the individual involved may remain confidential unless the board later takes public action.
The Richmond County Board of Commissioners is expected to reconvene for its next regular monthly meeting in September. Any reportable action following Monday’s closed session would need to be announced after the board returns to open session.
The original meeting notice and additional details were reported by the Richmond Observer.
