With City and Town offices reopening, many of our members are now “back to normal” in terms of interacting in-person with citizens, constituents and other visitors to their public buildings. And we’re hearing stories of the return of another perennial visitor—the First Amendment auditor! As you’ve likely heard, a First Amendment audit typically involves a citizen visiting City or Town offices while on a video livestream. The auditor might be there to make a perfectly legitimate request for a service…or the auditor may be visiting solely for the also-legitimate purpose of simply exercising one’s First Amendment rights and “testing” municipal personnel.

Check out General Counsel Sam Light’s Liability Alert which includes tips to consider should your entity receive a visit from a First Amendment auditor along with some resources to assist you with this issue.