ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 3937 By: Provenzano, Hefner, Deck, and Swope of the House
and
Burns of the Senate
An Act relating to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act; amending 25
O.S. 2021, Section 311, which relates to notice requirements; removing expired
notice exceptions for the COVID-19 pandemic; modifying provisions related to
publishing notice and agendas online; and providing an effective date.
SUBJECT: Oklahoma Open Meeting Act
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
SECTION 1.
AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021,
Section 311, is amended to read as follows:
Section 311. A. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law,
all regularly scheduled, continued or reconvened, special or emergency meetings
of public bodies shall be preceded by public notice as follows:
1.
All public bodies shall give notice in writing by December 15 of each
calendar year of the schedule showing the date, time and place of the regularly
scheduled meetings of such public bodies for the following calendar year;
2.
All state public bodies including, but not limited to, public trusts and
other bodies with the state as beneficiary, shall give such notice to the
Secretary of State;
3.
All county public bodies including, but not limited to, public trusts
and any other bodies with the county as beneficiary, shall give such notice to
the county clerk of the county wherein they are principally located;
4.
All municipal public bodies including, but not limited to, public trusts
and any other bodies with the municipality as beneficiary, shall give such
notice to the municipal clerk of the municipality wherein they are principally
located;
5.
All multicounty, regional, areawide or district public bodies including,
but not limited to, district boards of education, shall give such notice to the
county clerk of the county wherein they are principally located, or if no
office exists, to the county clerk of the county or counties served by such
public body;
6.
All governing boards of state institutions of higher education, and
committees and subcommittees thereof, shall give such notice to the Secretary
of State. All other public bodies
covered by the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act which exist under
the auspices of a state institution of higher education, but a majority of whose
members are not members of the institution's governing board, shall give such
notice to the county clerk of the county wherein the institution is principally
located;
7.
The Secretary of State and each county clerk or municipal clerk shall
keep a record of all notices received in a register open to the public for
inspection during regular office hours, and, in addition, shall make known upon
any request of any person the contents of the register;
8.
If any change is to be made of the date, time or place of regularly
scheduled meetings of public bodies, then notice in writing shall be given to
the Secretary of State or county clerk or municipal clerk, as required herein,
not less than ten (10) days prior to the implementation of any such change;
9. a. In
addition to the advance public notice in writing required to be filed for
regularly scheduled meetings, described in paragraph 1 of this subsection, all
public bodies shall, at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to such regularly
scheduled meetings, display public notice of the meeting by at least one of the
following methods:
a.
(1) by posting information that includes date,
time, place and agenda for the meeting in prominent public view at the
principal office of the public body or at the location of the meeting if no
office exists, or
b.
(2) by posting on the public body's Internet
website the date, time, place and agenda for the meeting in accordance with
Section 3106.2 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Additionally, the public body shall offer and
consistently maintain an email distribution system for distribution of such
notice of a public meeting required by this subsection, and any person may
request to be included without charge, and their request shall be
accepted. The emailed notice of a public
meeting required by this subsection shall include in the body of the email or
as an attachment to the email the date, time, place and agenda for the meeting
and it shall be sent no less than twenty-four (24) hours prior to the
meeting. Additionally, except as
provided in subparagraph c of this paragraph, the public body shall make
the notice of a public meeting required by this subsection available to the
public in the principal office of the public body or at the location of the
meeting during normal business hours at least twenty–four (24) hours prior to
the meeting, or
c. upon the effective date of this act and
until February 15, 2022, or until thirty (30) days after the expiration or
termination of the state of emergency declared by the Governor to respond to
the threat of COVID-19 to the people of this state and the public's peace,
health and safety, whichever date first occurs, the public body shall not be
required to make the notice of a public meeting available to the public in the
principal office of the public body or at the location of the meeting during
normal business hours at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting.
b. In addition to the
notice requirements of this section, all state public bodies, as defined in
paragraph 2 of this subsection, shall, at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to
regularly scheduled meetings, display public notice of the meeting by:
(1) posting
information that includes date, time, place and agenda for the meeting in
prominent public view at the principal office of the public body or at the
location of the meeting if no office exists, and
(2) posting
on the public body's Internet website the date, time, place and agenda for the
meeting in accordance with Section 3106.2 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
10.
The twenty-four (24) hours required in paragraph 9 of this subsection
shall exclude Saturdays, Sundays and holidays legally declared by the State of
Oklahoma. The posting or distribution of
a notice of a public meeting as described in paragraph 9 of this subsection
shall not preclude a public body from considering at its regularly scheduled
meeting any new business. "New
business", as used herein, shall mean any matter not known about or which
could not have been reasonably foreseen prior to the time of the posting;
11.
In the event any meeting is to be continued or reconvened, public notice
of such action including date, time and place of the continued meeting, shall
be given by announcement at the original meeting. Only matters appearing on the agenda of the
meeting which is continued may be discussed at the continued or reconvened
meeting;
12.
Special meetings of public bodies shall not be held without public
notice being given at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the meetings. Such public notice of date, time and place
shall be given in writing, in person or by telephonic means to the Secretary of
State or to the county clerk or to the municipal clerk by public bodies in the
manner set forth in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this subsection. The public body also shall cause written
notice of the date, time and place of the meeting to be mailed or delivered to
each person, newspaper, wire service, radio station and television station that
has filed a written request for notice of meetings of the public body with the
clerk or secretary of the public body or with some other person designated by
the public body. Such written notice
shall be mailed or delivered at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the special
meeting. The public body may charge a
fee of up to Eighteen Dollars ($18.00) per year to persons or entities filing a
written request for notice of meetings, and may require such persons or
entities to renew the request for notice annually. In addition, all public bodies shall, at
least twenty-four (24) hours prior to such special meetings, display public
notice of the meeting, setting forth thereon the date, time, place and agenda
for the meeting. Only matters appearing
on the posted agenda may be considered at the special meeting. Such public notice shall be posted in
prominent public view at the principal office of the public body or at the
location of the meeting if no office exists.
Twenty-four (24) hours prior public posting shall exclude Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays legally declared by the State of Oklahoma. In lieu of the public posting requirements of
this paragraph, a public body may elect to follow the requirements found in division
(2) of subparagraph b a of paragraph 9 of this subsection,
provided that forty-eight-hour notice is required for special meetings and that
the forty-eight-hour requirement shall exclude Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
legally declared by the State of Oklahoma;
13.
In the event of an emergency, an emergency meeting of a public body may
be held without the public notice heretofore required. Should an emergency meeting of a public body
be necessary, the person calling such a meeting shall give as much advance
public notice as is reasonable and possible under the circumstances existing,
in person or by telephonic or electronic means; and
14.
A public body that gives public notice of a meeting for which there will
be a videoconference option in accordance with Section 307.1 of this title
shall not modify the method of meeting described in the notice prior to the
meeting and shall conduct the meeting according to the methods described in the
notice. If a code or password is
required to access the videoconference meeting, the code or password shall be
included in the public notice.
B.
1. All agendas required pursuant
to the provisions of this section shall identify all items of business to be
transacted by a public body at a meeting including, but not limited to, any
proposed executive session for the purpose of engaging in deliberations or
rendering a final or intermediate decision in an individual proceeding
prescribed by the Administrative Procedures Act.
2.
If a public body proposes to conduct an executive session, the agenda
shall:
a. contain sufficient information for the public
to ascertain that an executive session will be proposed,
b. identify the items of business and purposes
of the executive session, and
c. state specifically the provision of Section
307 of this title authorizing the executive session.
SECTION 2.
This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
Passed the
House of Representatives the 5th day of March, 2024.
Presiding
Officer of the House
of
Representatives
Passed the Senate the 16th day of
April, 2024.
Presiding
Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office
of the Governor this ____________________ day of ___________________,
20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By:
_________________________________
Approved by the
Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________ day of ___________________,
20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of
the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE
OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office
of the Secretary of State this __________ day of ___________________, 20_______,
at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By:
_________________________________