Electronic Meetings

In early March 2022, Governor Holcomb lifted the state’s two-year Public Health Emergency as declared in Executive Order 20-2 by rescinding the declaration in Executive Order 22-09. The recission changes how municipalities are permitted to handle electronic (virtual) meetings outside of a declared emergency.

With the expiration of the public health emergency in March 2022, governing bodies will need to adopt a virtual meeting policy under IC 5-14-1.5-3.5. Sample policies can be found here.

In the event the public health emergency were to be renewed at a later date, local government meetings will need to reference IC 5-14-1.5 Section 3.7. Conducting meetings under Section 3.5, however, will be more limited than what is allowed under Section 3.7 during an emergency.

Aim hosted a webinar titled Virtual Meetings Post Emergency Order on Thursday, January 6, 2022. The webinar covered the adoption of a virtual meeting policy, documentation you must keep, and the Open Door Law. The recording and materials are available for purchase.

Governor Executive Orders & Public Health Emergency Declaration

Throughout the Covid pandemic, Governor Holcomb has extended the public health emergency in the allowable 30-day increments. On February 1, 2022, the Governor signed Executive Order 22-01, the twenty third renewal of the public health emergency extending the emergency until Friday, March 4, 2022. In addition, Governor Holcomb signed Executive Order 22-02: Further Continuation of Limited Provisions to Address the Impact and Spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on February 1, 2022.

On March 3, 2022, The Governor signed Executive Order 22-09 which was a Recission of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration and remaining provisions pertaining to the emergency.

This Executive Order was signed the same day House Bill 1001 was signed into law with certain provisions impacting emergencies.