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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
HOUSE BILL 3415 By: Pae
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to the Open Meeting Act; amending 25
O.S. 2021, Sections 304 and 307.1, which relate to
authorized methods for conducting me etings; modifying
definitions; modifying provisions related to
videoconferences; prescribing procedures relate d to
the conduct of meetings by electronic methods;
providing certain exceptions; prohibiting certain
electronic communications during public meetings;
providing for suspension of ability to achieve quorum
by electronic means under certain condition s;
imposing time limit; providing for ratification by
public body; and providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE O F OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 304, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 304. As used in the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act:
1. "Public body" means the governing bodies of all
municipalities located within this state, boards of county
commissioners of the counties in this state, boards of public and
higher education in this state and all boards, bureaus, commissions,
agencies, trusteeships, authorities, councils, committees, public
trusts or any entity created by a public trust, including any
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committee or subcommittee composed of any of the members of a public
trust or other legal entity receiving funds from the Rural Economic
Action Plan Fund as authorized by Section 2007 of Title 62 of the
Oklahoma Statutes, task forces or study groups in this state
supported in whole or in part by public funds or entrusted with the
expending of public funds, or administering public property, and
shall include all committees or subcommittees of any public body.
Public body shall not include the state judiciary, the Council on
Judicial Complaints when conducting, discussing, or de liberating any
matter relating to a complaint received or filed with the Council,
the Legislature, or administrative staffs of public b odies,
including, but not limited to, faculty meetings and athletic staff
meetings of institutions of higher education wh en those staffs are
not meeting with the public body, or entry -year assistance
committees. Furthermore, public body shall not include the
multidisciplinary teams provided for in Section 1 -9-102 of Title 10A
of the Oklahoma Statutes and subsection C of Sec tion 1-502.2 of
Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes or any school board meeting for
the sole purpose of considering recommendations of a
multidisciplinary team and deciding the placement of any child who
is the subject of the recommendations. Furthermore, p ublic body
shall not include meetings conducted by stewards designated by the
Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission pursuant to Section 203. 4 of Title
3A of the Oklahoma Statutes when the stewards are officiating at
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races or otherwise enforcing rules of the Com mission. Furthermore,
public body shall not include the board of directors of a Federally
Qualified Health Center;
2. "Meeting" means the conduct of business of a public body by
a majority of its members bein g personally together or, as
authorized by Section 307.1 of this title, together pursuant to a
videoconference. Meeting shall not include informal gatherings of a
majority of the members of the public body when no business of the
public body is discussed;
3. "Regularly scheduled meeting" means a mee ting at which the
regular business of the public body is conducted;
4. "Special meeting" means any meeting of a public body other
than a regularly scheduled meeting or emergency meeting;
5. "Emergency meeting " means any meeting called for the purpose
of dealing with an emergency. For purposes of the Oklahoma Open
Meeting Act, an emergency is defined as a situation involving injury
to persons or injury and damage to public or personal property or
immediate financial loss when the time requirements for pub lic
notice of a special meeting would make such procedure impractical
and increase the likelihood of injury or damage or immediate
financial loss or a public health emergency ;
6. "Continued or reconvened meeti ng" means a meeting which is
assembled for the purpose of finishing busines s appearing on an
agenda of a previous meeting. For the purposes of the Oklahoma Open
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Meeting Act, only matters on the agenda of the previous meeting at
which the announcement of t he continuance is made may be discussed
at a continued or reconvened meetin g;
7. "Videoconference" means a conference among members of a
public body remote from one another who are linked by interactive
telecommunication devices or technology and/or techn ology permitting
both visual and auditory communication between and among m embers of
the public body and/or between and among members of the public body
and members of the public. During any videoconference, both the
visual and auditory communications fun ctions shall attempt to be
utilized interaction at a public meeting utilizi ng the provisions of
Section 307.1 of this title; and
8. "Teleconference" means a conference among members of a
public body remote from one another who are linked by
telecommunication devices and/or technology permitting auditory
communication between and among members of the public body and/or
between and among members of the public body an d members of the
public interaction at a public meeting utilizing the provisions of
Section 307.1 of this title.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 307.1, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 307.1 A. Except as provided in subse ctions C and D of
this section, a A public body may hold meetings and executive
sessions by videoconference electronic means where each member of
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the public body is visible and audible to each other and the public
through a video monitor may participate in the meetings
electronically, subject to the following:
1. a. except as provided f or in subparagraph b of this
paragraph, no less than a quorum of the public body
shall be present in person at the meeting site as
posted on the meeting notice and agenda Members of
public bodies subject to the Open Meeting Act shall
not participate in more than half of the regular and
special meetings of the public body upon which they
serve utilizing this exception in any calendar year.
Attendance in excess of this prohibition shall be
recorded as an absence. This provision shall not
apply to those serving on a virtual chart er school
approved and sponsored by the Statewide Virtual
Charter School Board pursuant to the provis ions of
Section 3-145.3 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes ,
b. a virtual charter school approved and sponsored by the
Statewide Virtual Charter School Boa rd pursuant to the
provisions of Section 3 -145.3 of Title 70 of the
Oklahoma Statutes Public bodies shall maintain a
quorum of members for the entire duration of the
meeting whether using an in-person site,
videoconference sites electronic participation or any
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combination of such sites thereof to achieve a
quorum;, and the meeting shall be open to the public
in person in a public place unless emergency
provisions are triggered as outlined in the Open
Meeting Act. No private elec tronic communications
concerning public business may occur during a pu blic
meeting by members of the governing body , and
c. each Each public meeting held by videoconference or
teleconference in compliance with this section shall
be recorded either by written, electronic, or other
means have minutes prepared in compliance with st ate
and local law;
2. The meeting notice a nd agenda prepared in advance of the
meeting, as required by law, shall indic ate if the meeting will may
include videoconferencing locations electronic or in-person
participation and shall state:
a. the location, address, and telephone number of each
available videoconference site and/or electronic
source that may be uti lized to access the meeting, and
b. the identity of each member of the public body and the
specific site from which each member of the body shall
be physically present and participating in the
meeting;
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3. After the meeting notice and agenda are prepared and posted,
as required by law, no member of the public body shall be allowed to
participate in the me eting from any location other than the specific
location posted on the agenda in advance of the meeting;
4. In order to allow the public the maximum opportunity to
attend and observe each public off icial carrying out the duties of
the public official, a m ember or members of a public body desiring
to participate in a meeting by videoconference shall participate in
the videoconference from a site and room located 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 t he public shall be allowed into t hat
site and room. Public bodies may provide additional videoconference
sites as a convenience to the public, but additional sites shall not
be used to exclude or discourage public attendance at any
videoconference site ;
6. 3. The public shall be allowed to participate and speak, as
allowed by at meetings held electronically to the ext ent such
participation is consistent with a previously adopted rule or policy
set by the public body , in a meeting at the videoc onference site in
the same manner and to the sam e extent as the public is allow ed to
participate or speak at the site of the meeting ;
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7. 4. Any materials shared electronically between members of
the public body, before or during the videoconference, shall also be
immediately made available to the publi c in the same form and manner
as shared with members of the public body ; and
8. 5. All votes occurring during any m eeting conducted using
videoconferencing electronic means shall occur and be recorded by
roll call vote; and
6. The prohibition of establish ing a quorum utilizing
electronic means exclusively for the purposes of conducting a public
meeting as outlined in this section shall be suspended statewide
during a state of emergency declared by the Governor to respond to
the threat of the public 's peace, health and safety, or during a
locally declared state of emergency declared by a mayor, school
board president, or chairman of a board of county commissioners
whereby such locally declared state of emergency shal l not continue
for more than thirty (30) days without ratification of the
respective public body.
B. No public body shall conduct an executive session by
videoconference.
C. Upon the effective date of this act and until February 15,
2022, or until thirty (30) days after the expiration or termina tion
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
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provisions of this subsection and subsection D shall operat e as law
in this state.
1. A public body may hold meetings by teleconference 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 school approved and sp onsored by
the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board pursuant to
the provisions of the Oklahoma Statutes, the public
body shall maintain a quorum of members for the entire
duration of the meeting whether using an in-person
site, teleconference, or videoco nference or any
combination of such sites to achieve a quorum, and
b. if the meeting is held using either teleconference or
videoconference capabilities, and at any time the
audio connection is disconnected, the me eting shall be
stopped and reconvened once the audio connection is
restored;
2. The meeting notice and agenda prepared in advance of the
meeting, as required by law, shall indicate if the meeting will
include teleconferencing or videoconferencing and shal l also state:
a. each public body member a ppearing remotely and the
method of each member's remote appearance, and
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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 prepared 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 remotely may be permitted to
physically appear at the meeting site, if any, for the meeting;
4. The public body shall be allowed to participate and speak,
as allowed by rule or policy set by the public body, in a meeting
which utilizes teleconference or videoconference in the same manner
and to the same exte nt as the public is allowed to participate or
speak during a meeting where all public body members are physically
present together at the meeting site;
5. Any documents or other materials provided to members of the
public body or shared electronically bet ween members of the 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 and be recorded by
roll call votes.
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D. Public bodies are permitted to conduct an executive session
by teleconference or videoconference. For such executive sessions,
no public body member is required to be physically present so long
as each public body member is audible or visible to each other. The
meeting notice and agenda prepared in advance of the meeting as
required by law shall indicate if the executive session will include
teleconferencing or videoconferencing and shall 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 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
58-2-8861 MAH 01/19/22