North Dakota AG: private entities may be subject to laws governing public agencies

The North Dakota Attorney General has issued an opinion that a privately operated arts organization that received public funds is subject to the state’s open meetings and public records act.

Generally, all records of a public entity are open for inspection by the public. This rule is different, however, for records of entities that are subject to the open records law
solely because they are “supported by public funds.” For this type of “public entity,” generally only those records pertaining to or dealing with the use of public funds will be open. However, if the public funds were commingled with other entity funds and not used for any specific purpose, then all of the entity’s records must be open, unless a specific law provides otherwise.

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