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RELEVANT LINKS: The decision also noted that the town board members did not appear to make any decisions in their e-mail messages. Because this decision is unpublished, it is not binding on other courts. In addition, the outcome of this decision might have been different if the substance of the e-mails had related to something other than operational matters, for example, if the substance of the e-mails were attempting to build agreement on a particular issue that was going to be presented to the town board at a future meeting. See LMC information memo, Electronic Communications Between Councilmembers. IPAD 09-020. In addition, serial discussions between less than a quorum of the council could violate the open meeting law. As a result, city councils and other public bodies should take a conservative approach and should not use e- mail, telephone calls, and other technology to communicate back and forth with other members of the public body if both of the following circumstances exist: • A quorum of the council or public body will be contacted regarding the same matter. • City business is being discussed. Minn. Stat. § 13.02, subd. 7. Another thing councilmembers should be careful about is which e-mail account they use to receive e-mails relating to city business because such e- mails would likely be considered government data that is subject to a public- records requests under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. The best option is for each councilmember to have an individual e-mail account that the city provides and city staff or contracted staff manage. However, this is not always possible for cities due to budget, size, or logistics. If councilmembers don’t have a city e-mail account, there are some things to think about before using a personal e-mail address for city business. First, preferably only the councilmember has access to the personal e-mail. Using a shared account with other family members could lead to incorrect information being communicated from the account, or incoming information being inadvertently deleted. Also, since city e-mails are government data, city officials may have to separate personal e-mails from city e-mails when responding to a public-records request. Second, is the account you want to use for city business tied to your private employer? Most likely your employer has a policy that restricts this kind of use. However, it your employer allows this type of use, be aware that in the event of a public-records request or litigation request, your employer may be compelled to have a search done of your company e-mail or to restore files from a backup or archive. League of Minnesota Cities Handbook for Minnesota Cities 10/14/2013 Meetings, Motions, Resolutions, and Ordinances Chapter 7 | Page 19