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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
April 6, 2021
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL NO. 2644 By: Echols, Fugate, Phillips,
Moore and Grego of the
House
and
David of the Senate
[ Oklahoma Open Meeting Act - videoconferences and
teleconferences - temporary provisions - expiration -
emergency ]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2011, Section 307.1, as
last amended by Enrolled Senate Bill No. 1031 of the 1st Session of
the 58th Oklahoma Legislature, is amended to read as follo ws:
Section 307.1. A. Except as provided in subsections C and D of
this section, a public body may hold mee tings by videoconference
where each member of the public body is visible and audible to each
other and the public through a video monitor, subject to the
following:
1. a. except as provided for in subparagraph b of this
paragraph, no less than a quorum of the public body
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shall be present in person at the meeting site as
posted on the meeting notice and agenda,
b. a virtual charter school approved and sponsored by the
Statewide Virtual Charter Sc hool Board pursuant to the
provisions of Section 3 -145.3 of Title 70 of the
Oklahoma Statutes shall maintain a quorum of members
for the entire duration of the meeting whether using
an in-person site, videoconference sites or any
combination of such sites to achieve a quorum;, and
c. each public meeting held by videoco nference or
teleconference shall be recorded either by written,
electronic, or other means;
2. The meeting notice and agenda prepared in adva nce of the
meeting, as required by law, shall indic ate if the meeting will
include videoconferencing locations and shall state:
a. the location, address, and telephone number of each
available videoconference site, and
b. the identity of each member of t he public body and the
specific site from which each member of the body shall
be physically present and participatin g in the
meeting;
3. After the meeting notice and agenda are prepared and posted,
as required by law, no member of the public body shall b e allowed to
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participate in the meeting from any locat ion other than the specific
location posted on the agenda in ad vance of the meeting;
4. In order to allow the public the maximum oppo rtunity to
attend and observe each public official carrying out the duties of
the public official, a member or members of a public body desiring
to participate in a meeting by videoconf erence shall participate in
the videoconference from a site and room lo cated within the district
or political subdivision from which they are elected, appointed, or
are sworn to represent;
5. Each site and room where a member of the public body is
present for a meeting by videoconference shall be open and
accessible to the public, and the public shall be allowed into that
site and room. Public bodies may provide additional videoconference
sites as a convenience to the public, but additional sites shall no t
be used to exclude or discourage public attendance at any
videoconference site;
6. The public shall be allowed to participate and speak, as
allowed by rule or policy set by the public body, in a meeting at
the videoconference site in the same manner and to the same extent
as the public is allowed to participate or speak at the site of the
meeting;
7. Any materials shared electronically between members of the
public body, before or during the videoconference, shall also be
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immediately available to the pu blic in the same form and manner as
shared with members of the public b ody; and
8. All votes occurring during any meeting conducted using
videoconferencing shall occur and be recorded by roll call vote.
B. No public body shall conduct an executive sess ion by
videoconference.
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 March 31,
2024, the provisions of this subsection and subsectio n D shall
operate as law in this state.
1. A public body may hold meetings by teleconfe rence or
videoconference if each member of the public body is audible or
visible to each other and the public, subject to the following:
a. for a virtual charter scho ol approved and sponsored by
the Statewide Virtual Charte r School Board pursuant to
the provisions of the Oklahoma Statutes, the public
body shall maintain a quor um of members for th e entire
duration of the meeting whether using an in -person
site, teleconference, or videoconference or any
combination of such sit es to achieve a quorum, and
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b. if the meeting is held using either teleconference or
videoconference capa bilities, and at any time the
audio connection is disconnected, the meeting shall be
stopped and reconvened once the audio connection is
restored;
2. The meeting notice and agenda pre pared in advance of the
meeting, as required by law, shall indicate if the meeting will
include teleconferencing or videoconferencing and shall also state:
a. each public body member appearing remotely and the
method of each member's remote appearance, and
b. the identity of the public body member or members who
will be physically present at the meeting site, if
any;
3. After the meeting notice and agenda are pre pared and posted
as required by law, public body members shall not be permitted to
alter their method of attendance; provided, however, those members
who were identified as appearing remo tely may be permitted to
physically appear at the meeting site, if an y, for the meeting;
4. The public body shall be allowed to pa rticipate and speak,
as allowed by rule or policy set by the public body, in a meeting
which utilizes teleconference or video conference in the same manner
and to the same extent as the public i s allowed to participate or
speak during a meeting where all pu blic body members are physically
present together at the meeting site;
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5. Any documents or other materials provided to members of the
public body or shared electronically between members of t he public
body during a meeting utilizing teleconferencing or
videoconferencing shall also be immediately available to the public
on the website of the public body, if the public body maintains a
website; and
6. All votes occurring during any meeting utilizing
teleconference or videoconference shall occur a nd be recorded by
roll call votes.
D. Public bodies are permitted to condu ct an executive session
by teleconference or videoconference. For such executive sessions,
no public body member is required to be physically prese nt so long
as each public body me mber is audible or visible to each other. The
meeting notice and agenda pr epared in advance of the meeting as
required by law shall indicate if the executive session will include
teleconferencing or videoconferencing and s hall also state the
identity of each public body member appearing remotely, the method
of each member's remote appearance, and whether any member will be
physically present at the meeting site, if any, for the executive
session.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2011 , Section 311, as last
amended by Enrolled Senate Bill No. 1031 of the 1 st Session of the
58th Oklahoma Legislature , is amended to read as follows:
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Section 311. A. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law,
all regularly scheduled, c ontinued or reconvened, special o r
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 th e schedule showing the date, time and
place of the regularly scheduled meeting s 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 S tate;
3. All county public bodie s including, but not limited to,
public trusts and any other bodies with the county as benefic iary,
shall give such notice to the county clerk of the county wherein
they are principally located;
4. All municipal public bod ies including, but not limited t o,
public trusts and any other bodies with the municipality as
beneficiary, shall give such notice to the municip al 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 where in
they are principally located, or if no office exists, to the c ounty
clerk of the county or counties served by such public body;
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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 cover ed
by the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Mee ting Act which exist under
the auspices of a state institution of higher education, but a
majority of whose members are not members of the institu tion's
governing board, shall give such notice to the county cler k of the
county wherein the institution is pr incipally located;
7. The Secretary of State and each county clerk or municipal
clerk shall keep a record of all notices received in a register o pen
to the public for inspection during regular office hours, and , in
addition, shall make known upon any requ est 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 publ ic bodies, then notice in
writing shall be given to the Secretary of State or county clerk or
municipal clerk, as required herein, not less tha n ten (10) days
prior to the implementation of any such change;
9. In addition to the advance public notice in w riting required
to be filed for regularly scheduled meetings, des cribed in paragraph
1 of this subsection, all public bodies shall, at least tw enty-four
(24) hours prior to such regularly scheduled meetings, display
public notice of the meeting by at least one of the following
methods:
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a. by posting information that inc ludes date, time, place
and agenda for the me eting 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. by posting on the public body's Internet website the
date, time, place and a genda for the meeting in
accordance with Sect ion 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 t o 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 paragra ph, the
public body shall make the notice of a public meeting
required by this subsection available to the pub lic in
the principal office of th e public body or at the
location of the meeting during normal business hours
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at least twenty–four (24) hours prio r to the meeting,
or
c. upon the effective date of this act and u ntil February
15, 2022, or until thirty (30) days after the
expiration or termination o f 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
March 31, 2024, 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 lea st twenty-four (24) hours prior
to the meeting;
10. The twenty-four (24) hours required in paragrap h 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 pa ragraph 9 of this
subsection shall not preclude a public body fro m considering at its
regularly scheduled meeting any new business. "New business", as
used herein, shall mean a ny matter not known about or which could
not have been reasonably foreseen prio r 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
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continued meeting, shall be given by announcement at the ori ginal
meeting. Only matters appea ring on the agenda of the meeting which
is continued may be discus sed 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, radi o 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 p ublic body or
with some other person designated by the public body. Such written
notice shall be mailed or deli vered at least forty-eight (48) hours
prior to the special meeting. The publ ic body may charge a fee of
up to Eighteen Dollars ($18.00) per yea r to persons or entities
filing a written request for notice of meetings, and may require
such persons or entiti es to renew the request for notice annually.
In addition, all public bodies shall, at least twenty-four (24)
hours prior to such special meetin gs, display public notice of the
meeting, setting forth thereon the date, time, place and agenda for
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the meeting. Only matters appearing on the posted agen da may be
considered at the speci al 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 e xclude 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 subpara graph b of
paragraph 9 of this subsection, p rovided 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 mee ting of a
public body may be held w ithout the public notice heretofore
required. Should an emergenc y 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 o r 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
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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 identi fy 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 eng aging 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 informa tion for the public to
ascertain that an executive session will be proposed,
b. identify the items o f business and purposes of the
executive session, and
c. state specifically the provision of Section 307 of
this title authorizing the executive session.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage an d approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
April 6, 2021 - DO PASS AS AMENDED