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