CCS HB 254: "An Act relating to open meetings of governmental bodies; and providing for an effective date."
00CONFERENCE CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 254 01 "An Act relating to open meetings of governmental bodies; and providing for an 02 effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 24.60.037 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 24.60.037. OPEN MEETINGS LAW. Legislators shall abide by open 06 meetings principles [AS 44.62.310 - 44.62.312 (OPEN MEETINGS LAW)]. The 07 committee shall develop guidelines for the application of principles of open meetings 08 of governmental bodies [THIS SECTION] to the legislature. The guidelines must 09 permit closed caucuses and private, informal meetings or conversations between 10 legislators in which political strategy is discussed. In a proceeding under 11 AS 24.60.170 in which a violation of this section is alleged, if the committee finds that 12 a person acted within the adopted guidelines, the committee shall dismiss the 13 complaint as to that violation. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 44.62.310(a) is amended to read:
01 (a) All meetings of a governmental [LEGISLATIVE] body of a public entity 02 [, OF A BOARD OF REGENTS, OR OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE BODY, BOARD, 03 COMMISSION, COMMITTEE, SUBCOMMITTEE, AUTHORITY, COUNCIL, 04 AGENCY, OR OTHER ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING SUBORDINATE UNITS 05 OF THE ABOVE GROUPS, OF THE STATE OR ANY OF ITS POLITICAL 06 SUBDIVISIONS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MUNICIPALITIES, 07 BOROUGHS, SCHOOL BOARDS, AND ALL OTHER BOARDS, AGENCIES, 08 ASSEMBLIES, COUNCILS, DEPARTMENTS, DIVISIONS, BUREAUS, 09 COMMISSIONS, OR ORGANIZATIONS, ADVISORY OR OTHERWISE,] of the 10 state [OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY 11 PUBLIC MONEY OR AUTHORIZED TO SPEND PUBLIC MONEY,] are open to 12 the public except as otherwise provided by this section or another provision of law. 13 Attendance [EXCEPT FOR MEETINGS OF A HOUSE OF THE LEGISLATURE, 14 ATTENDANCE] and participation at meetings by members of the public or by 15 members of a governmental body may be by teleconferencing. Agency materials that 16 are to be considered at the meeting shall be made available at teleconference locations 17 if practicable. Except when voice votes are authorized, the vote shall be conducted 18 in such a manner that the public may know the vote of each person entitled to vote. 19 The vote at a meeting held by teleconference shall be taken by roll call. This section 20 does not apply to any votes required to be taken to organize a governmental 21 [PUBLIC] body described in this subsection. 22 * Sec. 3. AS 44.62.310(b) is amended to read: 23 (b) If permitted [EXCEPTED] subjects are to be discussed at a meeting in 24 executive session, the meeting must first be convened as a public meeting and the 25 question of holding an executive session to discuss matters that are listed [COME 26 WITHIN THE EXCEPTIONS CONTAINED] in (c) of this section shall be determined 27 by a majority vote of the governmental body. The motion to convene in executive 28 session must clearly and with specificity describe the subject of the proposed 29 executive session without defeating the purpose of addressing the subject in 30 private. Subjects may not be considered at the executive session except those 31 mentioned in the motion calling for the executive session unless auxiliary to the main
01 question. Action may not be taken at an [THE] executive session, except to give 02 direction to an attorney or labor negotiator regarding the handling of a specific 03 legal matter or pending labor negotiations. 04 * Sec. 4. AS 44.62.310(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) The following [EXCEPTED] subjects may be considered [DISCUSSED] 06 in an executive session: 07 (1) matters, the immediate knowledge of which would clearly have an 08 adverse effect upon the finances of the public entity [GOVERNMENT UNIT]; 09 (2) subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any 10 person, provided the person may request a public discussion; 11 (3) matters which by law, municipal charter, or ordinance are required 12 to be confidential; 13 (4) matters involving consideration of government records that by 14 law are not subject to public disclosure. 15 * Sec. 5. AS 44.62.310(d) is amended to read: 16 (d) This section does not apply to 17 (1) a governmental body performing a judicial or quasi-judicial 18 function [BODIES] when holding a meeting solely to make a decision in an 19 adjudicatory proceeding; 20 (2) juries; 21 (3) parole or pardon boards; 22 (4) meetings of a hospital medical staff; [OR] 23 (5) meetings of the governmental [GOVERNING] body or any 24 committee of a hospital when holding a meeting solely to act upon matters of 25 professional qualifications, privileges or discipline; 26 (6) staff meetings or other gatherings of the employees of a public 27 entity, including meetings of an employee group established by policy of the Board 28 of Regents of the University of Alaska or held while acting in an advisory capacity 29 to the Board of Regents; or 30 (7) meetings held for the purpose of participating in or attending 31 a gathering of a national, state, or regional organization of which the public
01 entity, governmental body, or member of the governmental body is a member, but 02 only if no action is taken and no business of the governmental body is conducted 03 at the meetings. 04 * Sec. 6. AS 44.62.310(e) is amended to read: 05 (e) Reasonable public notice shall be given for all meetings required to be 06 open under this section. The notice must include the date, time, and place of the 07 meeting and, if the meeting is by teleconference, the location of any teleconferencing 08 facilities that will be used. Subject [IN ADDITION] to the publication required by 09 AS 44.62.175(a) in the Alaska Administrative Journal, the notice may be given by 10 using [A COMBINATION OF] print or [AND] broadcast media. The notice shall be 11 posted at the principal office of the public entity or, if the public entity has no 12 principal office, at a place designated by the governmental body. The 13 governmental body shall provide notice in a consistent fashion for all its meetings. 14 * Sec. 7. AS 44.62.310(f) is repealed and reenacted to read: 15 (f) Action taken contrary to this section is voidable. A lawsuit to void an 16 action taken in violation of this section must be filed in superior court within 180 days 17 after the date of the action. A member of a governmental body may not be named in 18 an action to enforce this section in the member's personal capacity. A governmental 19 body that violates or is alleged to have violated this section may cure the violation or 20 alleged violation by holding another meeting in compliance with notice and other 21 requirements of this section and conducting a substantial and public reconsideration 22 of the matters considered at the original meeting. If the court finds that an action is 23 void, the governmental body may discuss and act on the matter at another meeting 24 held in compliance with this section. A court may hold that an action taken at a 25 meeting held in violation of this section is void only if the court finds that, considering 26 all of the circumstances, the public interest in compliance with this section outweighs 27 the harm that would be caused to the public interest and to the public entity by voiding 28 the action. In making this determination, the court shall consider at least the 29 following: 30 (1) the expense that may be incurred by the public entity, other 31 governmental bodies, and individuals if the action is voided;
01 (2) the disruption that may be caused to the affairs of the public entity, 02 other governmental bodies, and individuals if the action is voided; 03 (3) the degree to which the public entity, other governmental bodies, 04 and individuals may be exposed to additional litigation if the action is voided; 05 (4) the extent to which the governing body, in meetings held in 06 compliance with this section, has previously considered the subject; 07 (5) the amount of time that has passed since the action was taken; 08 (6) the degree to which the public entity, other governmental bodies, 09 or individuals have come to rely on the action; 10 (7) whether and to what extent the governmental body has, before or 11 after the lawsuit was filed to void the action, engaged in or attempted to engage in the 12 public reconsideration of matters originally considered in violation of this section; 13 (8) the degree to which violations of this section were wilful, flagrant, 14 or obvious; 15 (9) the degree to which the governing body failed to adhere to the 16 policy under AS 44.62.312(a). 17 * Sec. 8. AS 44.62.310 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 18 (g) Subsection (f) of this section does not apply to a governmental body that 19 has only authority to advise or make recommendations to a public entity and has no 20 authority to establish policies or make decisions for the public entity. 21 (h) In this section, 22 (1) "governmental body" means an assembly, council, board, 23 commission, committee, or other similar body of a public entity with the authority to 24 establish policies or make decisions for the public entity or with the authority to advise 25 or make recommendations to the public entity; "governmental body" includes the 26 members of a subcommittee or other subordinate unit of a governmental body if the 27 subordinate unit consists of two or more members; 28 (2) "meeting" means a gathering of members of a governmental body 29 when 30 (A) more than three members or a majority of the members, 31 whichever is less, are present, a matter upon which the governmental body is
01 empowered to act is considered by the members collectively, and the 02 governmental body has the authority to establish policies or make decisions for 03 a public entity; or 04 (B) the gathering is prearranged for the purpose of considering 05 a matter upon which the governmental body is empowered to act and the 06 governmental body has only authority to advise or make recommendations for 07 a public entity but has no authority to establish policies or make decisions for 08 the public entity; 09 (3) "public entity" means an entity of the state or of a political 10 subdivision of the state including an agency, a board or commission, the University of 11 Alaska, a public authority or corporation, a municipality, a school district, and other 12 governmental units of the state or a political subdivision of the state; it does not 13 include the court system or the legislative branch of state government. 14 * Sec. 9. AS 44.62.312(b) is amended to read: 15 (b) AS 44.62.310(c) and (d) [AS 44.62.310(c)(1)] shall be construed narrowly 16 in order to effectuate the policy stated in (a) of this section and to avoid exemptions 17 from open meeting requirements and unnecessary executive sessions. 18 * Sec. 10. OPEN MEETINGS GUIDELINES. (a) Notwithstanding AS 24.60.037, 19 adoption of initial guidelines applying the open meetings principles to the legislature are 20 subject to approval by the legislature as provided under this subsection. By January 16, 1995, 21 the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics shall submit proposed initial guidelines to the 22 legislature. The Legislature shall vote on a concurrent resolution approving the guidelines by 23 the 45th day of the legislative session. If the guidelines are voted on but not approved, the 24 committee shall submit new proposed guidelines within 60 days after the resolution was voted 25 on by the legislature. If the new guidelines are voted on but not approved, the Select 26 Committee on Legislative Ethics shall continue to submit proposed guidelines in accordance 27 with the procedure set out in this subsection until the initial guidelines are approved. 28 (b) There is established an Open Meetings Advisory Committee consisting of two 29 senators appointed by the president of the senate, two representatives appointed by the speaker 30 of the house of representatives, and two public members appointed from the Select Committee 31 on Legislative Ethics by its chair. The advisory committee shall consider application of open
01 meetings principles to the legislature and submit a report of its recommended guidelines to 02 the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics by December 1, 1994. The advisory committee 03 is terminated upon adoption of the guidelines by the legislature. 04 * Sec. 11. This Act takes effective immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).