AB 546

Currently, under the open meetings law, with certain exceptions, meetings of

state and local governmental bodies must be preceded by public notice, must be held

in places that are reasonably accessible to the public, and must be open to the public

at all times, although such meetings may convene in closed session for the purpose

of considering certain matters specified by law.

A public notice of a meeting of a governmental body must contain the time, date,

place, and subject matter of the meeting and must be given at least 24 hours before

the start of the meeting, although shorter notice, but never less than two hours, may

be given under limited circumstances. The notice must be given to news media that

have filed a request to receive such a notice and the notice must appear in the

governmental body's official newspaper or, if none exists, in a news medium likely

to give notice in the area.

Under this bill, a governmental body of a city, village, town, or county (political

subdivision) that has a Web site is required to post a public notice of a meeting that

is subject to the open meetings law on that political subdivision's Web site and also

must post any minutes of the meeting that relate to business conducted during an

open session of the meeting. Current law defines "governmental body" to include any

agency, board, commission, committee, council, or department of a political

subdivision.