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EXHIBIT A DAVE YOST 111111140 OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL March 13, 2020 Dear Local Official: The Ohio Attorney General's Office has received numerous questions regarding the applicability of Ohio's Open Meetings Act (OMA) during this time of a COVID-19 declared emergency. Under this very limited fact pattern, there may be a basis for local public bodies to use electronic means to meet and comply with the law. You should discuss this matter with your legal counsel before making any decisions. Ohio's OMA requires public bodies to take official action and conduct all deliberations upon official business in public meetings that are open to the public at all times. R.C. 121.22. When recently asked, I pointed out that the OMA does not contain an exception to the "in person" requirement during the time of a declared emergency. R.C. 121.22(C). The OMA provides very few exceptions to this requirement. [See e.g., R.C. 3333.02 (applying to the Ohio Board of Regents) and R.C. 3316.05(x) (applying to members of a school district financial planning and supervision commission, if provisions are made for public attendance at 40 any location involved in the teleconference.] Yesterday, Dr. Amy Acton, Director of the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), issued an Order targeted at preventing the spread of COVID-19, a highly communicable disease. Dr. Acton issued this Order pursuant to the authority granted to her by Ohio Revised Code Section 3703.13. In relevant portion, that statute gives ODH supervisory authority over "all matters relating to the preservation of the life and health of the people". R.C. 3703.13. It further provides that ODH shall "have ultimate authority in matters of quarantine and isolation". Id. Dr. Acton and Governor Mike DeWine held a press conference at which they detailed the COVID-19 epidemic in Ohio, the continued spread of this as -yet incurable virus, and how we as Ohioans can best stop it in its tracks. The Order issued by Dr. Acton addresses all of these critical points. Dr. Acton's Order primarily addresses "mass gatherings", which it defines as "any event that brings together one hundred or more persons in a single room or single space at the same time". It is possible that a meeting that must be public under the OMA qualifies as a "mass gathering" subject to the Order. Thus, on its face, the Order could prevent a public body from holding a meeting necessary for the continuation of governmental operations. But even if it does not, the Order is not so limited such that it only provides guidance as to mass gatherings. Specifically, it also states: "Regardless of whether an event or gathering falls within the definition of mass gathering, all persons are urged to maintain social distancing (approximately