1. Each public body shall keep written minutes of each of its meetings, including:

(a) The date, time and place of the meeting.

(b) Those members of the public body who were present, whether in person or by means of electronic communication, and those who were absent.

(c) The substance of all matters proposed, discussed or decided and, at the request of any member, a record of each member’s vote on any matter decided by vote.

(d) The substance of remarks made by any member of the general public who addresses the public body if the member of the general public requests that the minutes reflect those remarks or, if the member of the general public has prepared written remarks, a copy of the prepared remarks if the member of the general public submits a copy for inclusion.

(e) Any other information which any member of the public body requests to be included or reflected in the minutes.

Unless good cause is shown, a public body shall approve the minutes of a meeting within 45 days after the meeting or at the next meeting of the public body, whichever occurs later.

2. Minutes of public meetings are public records. Minutes or an audio recording of a meeting made in accordance with subsection 4 must be made available for inspection by the public within 30 working days after adjournment of the meeting. A copy of the minutes or audio recording must be made available to a member of the public upon request at no charge. The minutes shall be deemed to have permanent value and must be retained by the public body for at least 5 years. Thereafter, the minutes may be transferred for archival preservation in accordance with NRS 239.080 to 239.125, inclusive. Minutes of meetings closed pursuant to:

(a) Paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 241.030 become public records when the public body determines that the matters discussed no longer require confidentiality and the person whose character, conduct, competence or health was considered has consented to their disclosure. That person is entitled to a copy of the minutes upon request whether or not they become public records.

(b) Paragraph (b) of subsection 1 of NRS 241.030 become public records when the public body determines that the matters discussed no longer require confidentiality.

(c) Paragraph (c) of subsection 1 of NRS 241.030 become public records when the public body determines that the matters considered no longer require confidentiality and the person who appealed the results of the examination has consented to their disclosure, except that the public body shall remove from the minutes any references to the real name of the person who appealed the results of the examination. That person is entitled to a copy of the minutes upon request whether or not they become public records.

3. All or part of any meeting of a public body may be recorded on audiotape or any other means of sound or video reproduction by a member of the general public if it is a public meeting so long as this in no way interferes with the conduct of the meeting.

4. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 8, a public body shall, for each of its meetings, whether public or closed, record the meeting on audiotape or another means of sound reproduction or cause the meeting to be transcribed by a court reporter who is certified pursuant to chapter 656 of NRS. If a public body makes an audio recording of a meeting or causes a meeting to be transcribed pursuant to this subsection, the audio recording or transcript:

(a) Must be retained by the public body for at least 3 years after the adjournment of the meeting at which it was recorded or transcribed;

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, is a public record and must be made available for inspection by the public during the time the recording or transcript is retained; and

(c) Must be made available to the Attorney General upon request.

5. The requirement set forth in subsection 2 that a public body make available a copy of the minutes or audio recording of a meeting to a member of the public upon request at no charge does not prohibit a court reporter who is certified pursuant to chapter 656 of NRS from charging a fee to the public body for any services relating to the transcription of a meeting.

6. A court reporter who transcribes a meeting is not required to provide a copy of any transcript, minutes or audio recording of the meeting prepared by the court reporter directly to a member of the public at no charge.

7. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 8, any portion of a public meeting which is closed must also be recorded or transcribed and the recording or transcript must be retained and made available for inspection pursuant to the provisions of subsection 2 relating to records of closed meetings. Any recording or transcript made pursuant to this subsection must be made available to the Attorney General upon request.

8. If a public body makes a good faith effort to comply with the provisions of subsections 4 and 7 but is prevented from doing so because of factors beyond the public body’s reasonable control, including, without limitation, a power outage, a mechanical failure or other unforeseen event, such failure does not constitute a violation of the provisions of this chapter.

(Added to NRS by 1977, 1099; A 1989, 571; 1993, 449, 2638; 2005, 978, 1404; 2013, 323, 733; 2015, 1060; 2019, 3625)