Florida Statutes regarding Committee Meetings

My Condo has a few committees set up to discuss improvements to the community, revamping our rules, etc.

I know that all committee meetings are supposed to be open to the homeowner's to attend, but there seems to be some confusion as to whether homeowner's can participate. Some committees allow suggestions or questions from homeowner's and it's been quite beneficial. Other committees claim that per Florida Statute the homeowners must sit in silence.

I can't find info on this in the Statutes. Even so, if it is in the Statute does it strictly forbid participation, or is it for a fallback that committee's don't have to allow it in the case of the meetings being derailed by too much participation.

As it is, the meetings that have allowed have not had issues and have been beneficial.

I found this on the website on one of the big HOA law firms in Florida. I think it explains it pretty well.

Sunshine Laws for Committees
For both condos and HOAs, there are certain committees that must always operate in the sunshine, which means they must post notice of meetings, permit all association members to attend meetings and keep minutes. Operating in the sunshine also means the committee must permit other unit owners to speak to designated agenda items.

The sunshine laws for homeowners' associations apply to committees that can make final decisions regarding the expenditure of association funds, or committees that are vested with the power to approve or disapprove architectural decisions with respect to parcels in the community.

The sunshine laws for condominiums apply to committees that are empowered to take final action on behalf of the board, or committees that make recommendations to the board regarding the association budget. A committee to which sunshine laws apply is commonly referred to as a "statutory committee." Regardless of what the bylaws say, the sunshine requirements always apply to those committees that are required to have open, noticed meetings.

The condominium statute provides that all committees are subject to sunshine requirements unless the bylaws for the association specifically exempt committees from the sunshine laws. In our experience, very few older bylaws for condominium associations exempt committees, and in such cases, the sunshine rules apply to all condominium association committees, not just statutory committees. One final point to note is that members of condominium associations may tape record or videotape meetings of statutory committees. They may also tape record or videotape meetings of nonstatutory committees unless the Bylaws contain the above-noted exemption.

For Florida statutes:

Chapters are identified by whole Arabic numbers; sections, by numbers
containing a decimal point; subsections, by whole Arabic numbers enclosed by parentheses; paragraphs, by lowercase letters enclosed by parentheses; ...

See http://leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/Preface16.pdf

I bring this up because the citations I give above reference "paragraph" and "section."

Truth to power: Like no one on the committee is going to want to have to figure out what the statute is saying. The latter is the bigger battle. Do not hesitate to ask the board to ask the HOA attorney to answer your question, in front of the board and the committee. HOA attorneys can be great educators. They are often worth the money.

As well (and as I think you noticed at some point), here's the definition of "Committee" in the statute's definitions section:

“Committee” means a group of board members, unit owners, or board members and unit owners appointed by the board or a member of the board to make recommendations to the board regarding the proposed annual budget or to take action on behalf of the board.

For committees meeting the statutory definition
The problem is that in (c) 4., "this section" refers to the entirety of Section 718.112.

The two sentences in (c) 4. seem to conflict somewhat to me. What do you think?

I guess I would be googling to see what various law firm sites say. For now, I would err on the side of sunshine.

For committees not meeting the statutory definition
The statute does not require that owners be allowed to participate.

(Obviously this amends my earlier response.)