Government in the Sunshine Act

E39028
United States federal statute open meetings law

The Government in the Sunshine Act is a U.S. federal law that requires meetings of certain government agencies to be open and accessible to the public, promoting transparency and accountability in administrative decision-making.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Sunshine Act 1

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute ⓘ
open meetings law ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Government in the Sunshine Act ⓘ
surface form: Sunshine Act
appliesTo federal agencies headed by collegial bodies ⓘ
multi-member federal agencies ⓘ
branchAffected executive branch agencies ⓘ
codifiedIn Title 5 of the United States Code ⓘ
codifiedSections 5 U.S.C. § 552b ⓘ
country United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
dateSigned 1976-09-13 ⓘ
definesTerm agency ⓘ
meeting ⓘ
effectiveDate 1977-03-12 ⓘ
enactedBy 94th United States Congress ⓘ
enforcementMechanism judicial review in federal courts ⓘ
exemptionsInclude accusing any person of a crime or formally censuring a person ⓘ
agency participation in civil actions or proceedings ⓘ
information contained in or related to examination of financial institutions ⓘ
information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy ⓘ
information the premature disclosure of which would be likely to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action ⓘ
investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes under certain conditions ⓘ
matters of national defense or foreign policy ⓘ
matters related to internal personnel rules and practices ⓘ
matters specifically exempted from disclosure by statute ⓘ
trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information ⓘ
jurisdiction United States government ⓘ
surface form: federal government of the United States
legislativeHistoryContext post-Watergate government reform era ⓘ
modeledOn Freedom of Information Act ⓘ
policyArea open meetings and public participation in government ⓘ
providesFor limited exemptions allowing closed meetings ⓘ
publicLawNumber Public Law 94-409 ⓘ
purpose to promote transparency and accountability in federal administrative decision-making ⓘ
to provide the public with the fullest practicable information regarding the decision-making processes of the federal government ⓘ
to require that meetings of certain federal agencies be open to public observation ⓘ
relatedTo Administrative Procedure Act ⓘ
Federal Advisory Committee Act ⓘ
Freedom of Information Act ⓘ
requires advance public notice of agency meetings ⓘ
agencies to keep transcripts, recordings, or minutes of closed meetings ⓘ
agencies to make determinations and votes on closing meetings publicly available ⓘ
that agency meetings be open to public observation unless an exemption applies ⓘ
shortTitle Government in the Sunshine Act self-link ⓘ
signedBy Gerald Ford ⓘ
statutesAtLargeCitation 90 Stat. 1241 ⓘ
subject administrative law ⓘ
government transparency ⓘ
open government ⓘ
public access to government meetings ⓘ
yearOfEnactment 1976 ⓘ

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Government in the Sunshine Act → alsoKnownAs → Government in the Sunshine Act ⓘ
this entity surface form: Sunshine Act
94th United States Congress → passed → Government in the Sunshine Act ⓘ
Administrative Procedure Act → relatedTo → Government in the Sunshine Act ⓘ
Federal Advisory Committee Act → relatedTo → Government in the Sunshine Act ⓘ
Freedom of Information Act → relatedTo → Government in the Sunshine Act ⓘ
Government in the Sunshine Act → shortTitle → Government in the Sunshine Act self-link ⓘ