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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
SENATE BILL 1652 By: Prieto
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to public participation at pu blic
meetings; amending 25 O.S. 2021, Section 311, which
relates to notice of meetings of p ublic bodies;
prohibiting public body from taking action on certain
matters; clarifying right of memb ers of the public to
provide public comment at meetings of a public body;
allowing certain rules or policies regarding public
comment; construing provision s; providing exceptions
to certain requireme nts; 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
place of the regularly scheduled meetings of such public bodies for
the following calendar year;
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2. All state public bodies including, but not limited to,
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 o ther 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 coun ty 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 institut ions of higher
education, and committees and subcommittees thereof, shall g ive 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 institution’s
governing board, shall give such notice to the count y clerk of the
county wherein the institution is principally located;
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7. The Secretary of State and each county c lerk or municipal
clerk shall keep a record of all notices received in a re gister open
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 dat e, 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 not ice in writing 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 me etings, display
public notice of the meeting by at least one 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 p ublic 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
accordance with Section 3106.2 of Title 74 of the
Oklahoma Statutes. Additionally, the public body
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shall offer and consistently maintain an email
distribution system for 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 accept ed. The emailed notice
of a public meeting required by this subsection sha ll
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. Additional ly, 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 bu siness 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
public’s peace, health and safety, whichever date
first occurs, the pub lic body shall not be required to
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make the notice of a public meeti ng 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 Saturda ys, 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 an y 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 contin ued 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
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
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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 mail ed 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 designa ted 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 e ntities
filing a written request f or 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 ag enda 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 prin cipal 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
body may elect to follow the requireme nts found in subparagraph b of
paragraph 9 of this subsection, prov ided that forty-eight-hour
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notice is required f or special meetings and that the forty -eight-
hour requirement shall exclude Saturdays, Sundays and ho lidays
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 o f a meeting for
which there will be a videoconference option in a ccordance 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 videoconfe rence 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 busin ess 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
rendering a final or interme diate decision in an individual
proceeding prescribed by the Administrative Procedures Act. No
action may be taken upon a matter raised during a period designated
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for public comment until such matter has been specifically included
on an agenda as an item upon which action may be taken.
2. If a public body proposes to conduct an execut ive session,
the agenda shall:
a. contain sufficient information for 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 Sec tion 307 of
this title authorizing the executive session.
3. a. Any interested member of the public may address a
public body on any agenda item, item of new business ,
or any non-agenda item relevant to the function of the
public body in the time designated for public comment
at a meeting of the public bod y. Rules or policies of
a public body related to public comment shall be
limited to providing guidelines regarding the amount
of time a person may address the pu blic body and
designating a specific portion of the mee ting to
public comment. In no event may a public body
prohibit criticism of any act, omission, policy,
procedure, program, or service of the public body,
other than any criticism otherwise prohibited by law.
The requirements of this subparagraph shall not be
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construed to prohibit a public body from main taining
orderly conduct and proper decorum during a public
meeting.
b. The requirements of subparagraph a of this para graph
shall not apply to:
(1) any official act that must be taken to address an
emergency situation affecting the public health,
welfare, or safety, if compliance with such
requirements would cause an unreasonable del ay in
the ability of the public body to act , or
(2) any meeting not subject to the provisions of the
Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
59-2-3316 TEK 1/16/2024 11:43:27 AM