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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
SENATE BILL 1273 By: Burns
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to public participation at pub lic
meetings; amending 25 O.S. 2021, S ection 311, which
relates to notice of meetings of pu blic bodies;
clarifying right of members of the public to exercise
first amendment rights at public meetings;
prohibiting law enforcement officers or entities from
taking certain actions; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 5-118, which relates to meetin gs of school
boards; clarifying right of members of the public to
exercise first amendment rights at public meetings;
prohibiting law enforcement officers or entiti es from
taking certain actions; updating statutory
references; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 311, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 311. A. Notwithstanding an y other provisions of law,
all regularly scheduled, continued or reconvened, special or
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 ye ar of the schedule showing the date, time and
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place of the regularly scheduled meetings of such public bodies for
the following calendar year;
2. All state public bodies including, but not limited t o,
public trusts and other bodies with the state as benef iciary, shall
give such notice to the Secretary of State;
3. All county public bodies including, but not limited to,
public trusts and any other bodies with the county as beneficiary,
shall give such notice to the county clerk of the county wherein
they are principally located;
4. All municipal public bodies including, but not limited to,
public trusts and any other bodies with the municipality as
beneficiary, shall give such notice to the municipal clerk of the
municipality wherein they are principally l ocated;
5. All multicounty, re gional, 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 wherein
they are principally located, or if no office exists, to the county
clerk of the county or counties served by such public body;
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 covered
by the provisions of t he Oklahoma Open Meeting Act which exist under
the auspices of a state institution of higher education, but a
majority of whose members are not members of the instituti on’s
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governing board, shall give such notice to the count y clerk of the
county wherein the institution is principally located;
7. The Secretary of State and each county clerk or municipal
clerk shall keep a record of all notices received in a register ope n
to the public for inspection during regular office hour s, and, in
addition, shall make known upon any request 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 public bodies, then notice in
writing shall be given to the Sec retary of State or county clerk or
municipal clerk, as required herein, not less than ten (10) days
prior to the implementation of any such change;
9. In addition to the advance public notice in wri ting required
to be filed for regularly scheduled meeting s, described in paragraph
1 of this subsection, all public bodies shall, at least twenty -four
(24) hours prior to such regularly scheduled meetings, display
public notice of the meeting by at least o ne of the following
methods:
a. by posting information th at includes date, time, place
and agenda for the meeting 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 agenda for the meeting in
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accordance with Section 3106.2 of Title 74 of the
Oklahoma Statutes. Additionally, the public body
shall offer and consistently maintain an email
distribution system f or distribution of such notice of
a public meeting requir ed by this subsection, and any
person may request to 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 age nda 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 paragraph , the
public body shall make the notice of a public meeti ng
required by this subsection available to the public in
the principal office of the public body or at the
location of the meeting during normal business hours
at least twenty–four (24) hours prior to the meeting,
or
c. upon the effective date of this act March 18, 2020,
and until February 15, 2022, o r 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 th is state and the
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public’s peace, health and safety, whichever date
first occurs, the pub lic 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 meeti ng during normal business
hours at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the
meeting;
10. The twenty-four (24) hours required in paragraph 9 of this
subsection shall exclude Saturdays, Sundays and holidays legally
declared by the State of Oklahoma. The p osting or distribution of a
notice of a public meeting as described in paragraph 9 of th is
subsection shall not preclude a public body from considering at its
regularly scheduled meeting any new business. “New business”, as
used herein, shall mean any mat ter not known about or which could
not have been reasonably foreseen prior to the time o f 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
continued meeting, sha ll be given by announcement at the origin al
meeting. Only matters appearing on the agen da of the meeting which
is continued may be discussed 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 not ice of date, time and place shall be
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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 pu blic
bodies in the manner set forth in pa ragraphs 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, radio stat ion and television
station that has filed a written request for notice of meetings of
the public body with the clerk or secretary of the public body or
with some other person designated by the public body. Such written
notice shall be mailed or delivered at least forty-eight (48) hours
prior to the special meeting. The public body may charg e a fee of
up to Eighteen Dollars ($18.00) per year to persons or entities
filing a written request for notice of meetings, and may require
such persons or entities to renew the request for notice annually.
In addition, all public bodies shall, at least t wenty-four (24)
hours prior to such special meetings, display public notice of the
meeting, setting forth thereon the date, time, place and agenda for
the meeting. Only matters appearing on the posted agenda may be
considered at the special 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 excl ude Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays legally dec lared by the State of Oklahoma. In
lieu of the public posting requirements of this paragraph, a public
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body may elect to follow the requirements found in subparagraph b of
paragraph 9 of this subsection, prov ided that forty-eight-hour
notice is required f or 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 meeting of a
public body may be held without the public n otice heretofore
required. Should an emergency 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 or 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 thi s title shall not modify the method of mee ting
described in the notice prior to the meeti ng and shall conduct the
meeting according to the methods described in the notice. If a code
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 identify 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 engaging i n deliberations or
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rendering a final or interme diate 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 information fo r the public to
ascertain that an executive ses sion will be proposed,
b. identify the items of business and purposes of the
executive session, and
c. state specifically the provision of Section 307 of
this title authorizing the executive session.
3. Any interested member of the public may address a public
body on any agenda item or item of new business in the time
designated for public comment at a meeting of the public body. A
member of the public may ex ercise all rights of free speech and
assembly granted pursuant to the First Amendment of the Constitution
of the United States to address the public bod y. No law enforcement
officer or entity may prevent a member of the public from exercising
such rights in a law ful manner at a meeting of the public bo dy, nor
may a law enforcement officer or entity use harassment,
intimidation, or threat ened prosecution to prevent a member of the
public from exercising such ri ghts.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 5 -118, is
amended to read as follows:
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Section 5-118. Regular meetings of the board of education of
each school district shall be held upon the first Monday of each
month, or upon such day as may be fixed by the board. Special
meetings may be held from time to time as circum stances may demand.
All meetings of the boards of education shall be public
meetings, and in all such meetings the vote of each member must be
publicly cast and recorded. Executive sessions will be permitted
only for the purpose of discussing the employme nt, hiring,
appointment, promotion, demotion, dis ciplining, or resignations of
any or all of the employees or volunteers of the school district,
and for the purpose of discussing negotiations concerning employees
and representatives of employee groups, and for the purpose of
hearing evidence and discussi ng the expulsion or suspension of a
student or students only when requested by the student involv ed or
his or her parent, attorney, or legal guardian; provided, however,
that any vote or action thereon must be taken in a public meeting
with the vote of eac h member publicly cast and recorded. It is
required that the board of education shall provide no tice to the
student, his or her parent, attorney or legal guardian that said
student is entitled to an executi ve session regarding the discussion
of expulsion or suspension of said student.
Any interested member of the public may address a school board
on any agenda item or item of new business in the time designated
for public comment at a meeting of the school board. A member of
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the public may exercise all rights of free speech and assembly
granted pursuant to the First Amendment of the Constitution of the
United States to address the school board. No law enforcement
officer or entity may prevent a member of the public from exercising
such rights in a law ful manner at a meeting of the school board, nor
may a law enforcement officer or entity use harassment,
intimidation, or threat ened prosecution to prevent a member of the
public from exercising such ri ghts.
Any action taken in violation of the provisions of this act
Section 5-101 et seq. of this title shall be invalid.
Each member of the board of education of a school district with
an average daily attendance exceeding fifteen thousand (15,000) or a
school district where boundaries encompass a tot al population
exceeding one hundred thousand (100 ,000) persons according to the
last preceding Federal Decennial Census may be paid from the
district’s general fund a stipend of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00)
for each regular, special or adjourned meeting of the board of
education that he or she attends, but not for more than four
meetings in any calendar month.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022.
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