2.5.1 Open Board of Directors Meetings

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 2.5.1 Open Board of Directors Meetings

The open meeting ²¹¹ requirements in A.R.S. § 33-1804 are similar to the open meeting requirements in the Arizona Condominium Act found at A.R.S. § 33-1248 . Board of directors meetings, with some exceptions, must be “open” to the membership. A.R.S. § 33-1804, the statute that requires “open meetings” of the board of directors, was amended in 1994, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2011 and 2017. The additions and changes have marked a deliberate movement toward opening the governance of condominiums to the members. Examplematic of this move is a portion of A.R.S. § 33-1804(A) that permits persons attending an open board of directors and membership meetings to record it on an audiotape or videotape. The board of directors can adopt reasonable rules and regulations governing the audiotaping or videotaping of the open portions of the meetings, but the rules cannot preclude recording, unless the board audiotapes or videotapes the meeting and makes the unedited audiotapes or videotapes available to members on request without restrictions on its use as evidence in any dispute resolution process.

Despite what might be found in any provision of the declaration, bylaws or other documents to the contrary, all meetings of the association and the board of directors are open to all members of the association or any person designated by a member in writing as the member’s representative. The statute does not impose any requirement other than that the designation be “in writing.”

Any portion of a board of directors meeting ²¹² may be closed to anyone who is not a board member (or a person necessary to the closed portion of the meeting) if that closed portion relates to any one or more of the following:

Legal advice from an attorney for the board or the association. Pending or contemplated litigation. Personal, health and financial information about an individual member of the association, an individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor of the association, including records of the association directly related to the personal, health or financial information about an individual member of the association, an individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association. Matters relating to the job performance of, compensation of, health records of or specific complaints against an individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor of the

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