The Oak Bluffs select board was found to be in violation of open meeting laws on five occasions from November 2021 to January 2022, a decision from the state attorney general’s office shows.

The board was found to have approved insufficient minutes for executive sessions held on Nov. 24, Dec. 3, Dec. 18, Dec. 28 and Jan. 11 — all meetings which concerned the discussion of a once-missing police department patrol rifle. The open meeting complaint was filed by Rich Saltzberg of the Martha’s Vineyard Times.

The attorney general decision dated July 28 was addressed to select board chair Ryan Ruley.

The five sets of meeting minutes were found to include insufficient information about topics being discussed, according to the decision. The decision orders the board to amend and release the approved minutes. Minutes approved from an executive session on Jan. 25 were found by the attorney general’s office to be adequate.

The decision also stated that the board’s violation of the open meeting law was determined to be unintentional.

In an email to the Gazette Tuesday, town administrator Deborah Potter wrote that the board has taken steps to improve its recording of meeting minutes.

“The [attorney general’s office] ruling is still being reviewed, however, the select board, along with every town board, committee, and department, always intends to abide by the requirements of the OML to the best of their abilities,” Ms. Potter wrote. “We had already begun the process of improving our minutes in January, which is demonstrated by the [attorney general’s office] finding that the Executive session minutes of Jan. 25, 2022 are sufficiently detailed and not in violation.”