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53	53	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
54	54
55	55	1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
56	56
57	57	SENATE BILL 644 By: Prieto
58	58
59	59
60	60
61	61	AS INTRODUCED
62	62
63	63	An Act relating to public participation at pu blic
64	64	meetings; amending 25 O.S. 2021, S ection 311, which
65	65	relates to notice of meetings of pu blic bodies;
66	66	clarifying right of members of the public to exercise
67	67	First Amendment rights at public meetings; allowing
68	68	certain time limitations; prohibiting law enforcement
69	69	officers or entities from t aking certain actions;
70	70	amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 5-118, which relates
71	71	to meetings of school boards; clarifying right of
72	72	members of the public to exercise First Amendment
73	73	rights at public meetings; allowing certain time
74	74	limitations; prohibiting law enforcement officers or
75	75	entities from taking certain actions; updating
76	76	statutory references; and providing an effective
77	77	date.
78	78
79	79
80	80
81	81	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
82	82	SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 311, is
83	83	amended to read as follows:
84	84	Section 311. A. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law,
85	85	all regularly scheduled, continued or reconvened, special or
86	86	emergency meetings of public bodies shall be preceded by pub lic
87	87	notice as follows:
88	88	1. All public bodies shall give notice in writing by December
89	89	15 of each calendar year of the schedule showing the date, time and
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141	141	place of the regularly scheduled meetings of such public bodies for
142	142	the following calendar year;
143	143	2. All state public bodies including, but not limited to,
144	144	public trusts and other bodies with th e state as beneficiary, shall
145	145	give such notice to the Secretary of State;
146	146	3. All county public bodies including, but not limited to,
147	147	public trusts and any other bo dies with the county as beneficiary,
148	148	shall give such notice to the county clerk of the count y wherein
149	149	they are principally located;
150	150	4. All municipal public bodies including, but not limited to,
151	151	public trusts and any other bodies with the municipality as
152	152	beneficiary, shall give such notice to the municipal clerk of the
153	153	municipality wherein they a re principally located;
154	154	5. All multicounty, re gional, areawide or district public
155	155	bodies including, but not limited to, district boards of education,
156	156	shall give such notice to the county clerk of the coun ty wherein
157	157	they are principally located, or if no o ffice exists, to the county
158	158	clerk of the county or counties served by such public body;
159	159	6. All governing boards of state institutions of higher
160	160	education, and committees and subcommittees thereof, shall g ive such
161	161	notice to the Secretary of State. All oth er public bodies covered
162	162	by the provisions of t he Oklahoma Open Meeting Act which exist under
163	163	the auspices of a state institution of higher education, but a
164	164	majority of whose members are not members of the institution’s
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216	216	governing board, shall give such not ice to the county clerk of the
217	217	county wherein the institution is principally located;
218	218	7. The Secretary of State and each county clerk or municipal
219	219	clerk shall keep a record of all notices received in a re gister open
220	220	to the public for inspection during reg ular office hours, and, in
221	221	addition, shall make known upon any request of any person the
222	222	contents of the register;
223	223	8. If any change is to be made of the date, time or place of
224	224	regularly scheduled meetings of public bodies, then notice in
225	225	writing shall be given to the Secretary of State or county clerk or
226	226	municipal clerk, as required herein, not less than ten (10) days
227	227	prior to the implementation of any such change;
228	228	9. In addition to the advance public not ice in writing required
229	229	to be filed for regularly s cheduled meetings, described in paragraph
230	230	1 of this subsection, all public bodies shall, at least twenty -four
231	231	(24) hours prior to such regularly scheduled meetings, display
232	232	public notice of the meeting by at least one of the following
233	233	methods:
234	234	a. by posting information that includes date, time, place
235	235	and agenda for the meeting in prominent public view at
236	236	the principal office of the public body or at the
237	237	location of the meeting if no office exists, or
238	238	b. by posting on the public body’s Internet website the
239	239	date, time, place and agenda for the meeting in
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291	291	accordance with Section 3106.2 of Title 74 of the
292	292	Oklahoma Statutes. Additionally, the public body
293	293	shall offer and consistently maintain an email
294	294	distribution system for distribution of such notice of
295	295	a public meeting required by this subsection, and any
296	296	person may request to be included without charge, and
297	297	their request shall be accepted. The emailed notice
298	298	of a public meeting required by this subsection sha ll
299	299	include in the body of the email or as an attach ment
300	300	to the email the date, time, place and age nda for the
301	301	meeting and it shall be sent no less than twenty -four
302	302	(24) hours prior to the meeting. Additionally, exc ept
303	303	as provided in subparagraph c of this paragraph, the
304	304	public body shall make the notice o f a public meeting
305	305	required by this subsection available to the public in
306	306	the principal office of the public body or at the
307	307	location of the meeting during normal bu siness hours
308	308	at least twenty–four (24) hours prior to the meeting,
309	309	or
310	310	c. upon the effective date of this act March 18, 2020,
311	311	and until February 15, 2022, o r until thirty (30) days
312	312	after the expiration or termination of the state of
313	313	emergency declared by th e Governor to respond to the
314	314	threat of COVID-19 to the people of th is state and the
315	315
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366	366	public’s peace, health and safety, whichever date
367	367	first occurs, the pub lic body shall not be required to
368	368	make the notice of a public meeting available to the
369	369	public in the principal office of the public body or
370	370	at the location of the meeti ng during normal business
371	371	hours at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the
372	372	meeting;
373	373	10. The twenty-four (24) hours required in paragraph 9 of this
374	374	subsection shall exclude Saturdays, Sun days and holidays legally
375	375	declared by the State of Oklahoma. The p osting or distribution of a
376	376	notice of a public meeting as described in paragraph 9 of th is
377	377	subsection shall not preclude a public body from considering at its
378	378	regularly scheduled meeting an y new business. “New business”, as
379	379	used herein, shall mean any mat ter not known about or which could
380	380	not have been reasonably foreseen prior to the time o f the posting;
381	381	11. In the event any meeting is to be continued or reconvened,
382	382	public notice of such action including date, time and place of the
383	383	continued meeting, sha ll be given by announcement at the original
384	384	meeting. Only matters appearing on the agen da of the meeting which
385	385	is continued may be discussed at the continued or reconvened
386	386	meeting;
387	387	12. Special meetings of public bodies shall not be held without
388	388	public notice being given at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to
389	389	the meetings. Such public not ice of date, time and place shall be
390	390
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441	441	given in writing, in person or by telephonic means to the Secret ary
442	442	of State or to the county clerk or to the municipal clerk by pu blic
443	443	bodies in the manner set forth in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of
444	444	this subsection. The public body also shall cause written notice of
445	445	the date, time and place of the meeting to be mail ed or delivered to
446	446	each person, newspaper , wire service, radio stat ion and television
447	447	station that has filed a written request for notice of meetings of
448	448	the public body with the clerk or secretary of the public body or
449	449	with some other person designated by the public body. Such written
450	450	notice shall be mailed or delivered at least forty-eight (48) hours
451	451	prior to the special meeting. The public body may charg e a fee of
452	452	up to Eighteen Dollars ($18.00) per year to persons or entities
453	453	filing a written request f or notice of meetings, and may require
454	454	such persons or entities to renew the request for notice annually.
455	455	In addition, all public bodies shall, at least t wenty-four (24)
456	456	hours prior to such special meetings, display public notice of the
457	457	meeting, setting forth thereon the date, time, place and ag enda for
458	458	the meeting. Only matters appearing on the posted agenda may be
459	459	considered at the special meeting. Such public notice shall be
460	460	posted in prominent public view at the principal office of the
461	461	public body or at the location of the meeting if no off ice exists.
462	462	Twenty-four (24) hours prior public posting shall exclude Saturdays,
463	463	Sundays and holidays legally dec lared by the State of Oklahoma. In
464	464	lieu of the public posting requirements of this paragraph, a publ ic
465	465
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516	516	body may elect to follow the requireme nts found in subparagraph b of
517	517	paragraph 9 of this subsection, provided that forty-eight-hour
518	518	notice is required f or special meetings and that the forty -eight-
519	519	hour requirement shall exclude Saturdays, Sundays and ho lidays
520	520	legally declared by the State of O klahoma;
521	521	13. In the event of an emergency, an emergency meeting of a
522	522	public body may be held without the public n otice heretofore
523	523	required. Should an emergency meeting of a public body be
524	524	necessary, the person cal ling such a meeting shall give as much
525	525	advance public notice as is reasonable and possible under the
526	526	circumstances existing, in person or by telephonic or electronic
527	527	means; and
528	528	14. A public body that gives public notice of a meeting for
529	529	which there will be a videoconference option in accordance with
530	530	Section 307.1 of thi s title shall not modify the method of meeting
531	531	described in the notice prior to the meeti ng and shall conduct the
532	532	meeting according to the methods described in the notice. If a code
533	533	or password is required to access the videoconfe rence meeting, the
534	534	code or password shall be included in the public notice.
535	535	B. 1. All agendas required pursuant to the provisions of this
536	536	section shall identify all items of business to be transacted by a
537	537	public body at a meeting including, but not limit ed to, any proposed
538	538	executive session for the purpose of engaging in deliberations or
539	539
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590	590	rendering a final or interme diate decision in an individual
591	591	proceeding prescribed by the Administrative Procedures Act.
592	592	2. If a public body proposes to conduct an execut ive session,
593	593	the agenda shall:
594	594	a. contain sufficient information for the public to
595	595	ascertain that an executive ses sion will be proposed,
596	596	b. identify the items of business and purposes of the
597	597	executive session, and
598	598	c. state specifically the provision of Sec tion 307 of
599	599	this title authorizing the executive session.
600	600	3. Any interested member of the public may address a public
601	601	body on any agenda item or item of new business in the time
602	602	designated for public comment at a m eeting of the public body ,
603	603	subject to reasonable time limitations. A member of the public m ay
604	604	exercise all rights of free speech and assembly granted pursuant to
605	605	the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States to
606	606	address the public bod y. No law enforcement officer or entity may
607	607	prevent a member of the public from exercising such rights in a
608	608	lawful manner at a meeting of the public bo dy, nor may a law
609	609	enforcement officer or entity use harassment, intimidation, or
610	610	threatened prosecution to prevent a member of the public from
611	611	exercising such rights.
612	612	SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 5 -118, is
613	613	amended to read as follows:
614	614
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665	665	Section 5-118. Regular meetings of the board of education of
666	666	each school district shall be held upon the first Monday of each
667	667	month, or upon such day as may be fixed by the board. Sp ecial
668	668	meetings may be held from time to time as circum stances may demand.
669	669	All meetings of the boards of education shall be public
670	670	meetings, and in all such meetings the vote of each member must be
671	671	publicly cast and recorded. Executive sessions will be per mitted
672	672	only for the purpose of discussing the employme nt, hiring,
673	673	appointment, promotion, demotion, dis ciplining, or resignations of
674	674	any or all of the employees or volunteers of the school district,
675	675	and for the purpose of discussing negotiations concerning employees
676	676	and representatives of employee groups, and for the purpose of
677	677	hearing evidence and discussi ng the expulsion or suspension of a
678	678	student or students only when requested by the student involv ed or
679	679	his or her parent, attorney, or legal guardian; pr ovided, however,
680	680	that any vote or action thereon must be taken in a public meeting
681	681	with the vote of eac h member publicly cast and recorded. It is
682	682	required that the board of education shall provide no tice to the
683	683	student, his or her parent, attorney or lega l guardian that said
684	684	student is entitled to an executi ve session regarding the discussion
685	685	of expulsion or suspension of said student.
686	686	Any interested member of the p ublic may address a school board
687	687	on any agenda item or item of new business in the time designated
688	688	for public comment at a meeting of the school board, subject to
689	689
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740	740	reasonable time limitations. A member of the public may ex ercise
741	741	all rights of free speech and assembly granted pursuant to the First
742	742	Amendment of the Constitution of the United States to address the
743	743	school board. No law enforcement officer or entity may prevent a
744	744	member of the public from exercising such rights in a law ful manner
745	745	at a meeting of the school board, nor may a law enforcement officer
746	746	or entity use harassment, intimidation, or threatened prosecution to
747	747	prevent a member of the public from exercising such ri ghts.
748	748	Any action taken in violation of the provisions of this act
749	749	Section 5-101 et seq. of this title shall be invalid.
750	750	Each member of the board of education of a school d istrict with
751	751	an average daily attendance exceeding fifteen thousand (15,000) or a
752	752	school district where boundaries encompass a tot al population
753	753	exceeding one hundred thousand (100,000) persons according to the
754	754	last preceding Federal Decennial Census may be paid from the
755	755	district’s general fund a stipend of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00)
756	756	for each regular, special or adjourned meeting of the board of
757	757	education that he or she attends, but not for more than four
758	758	meetings in any calendar month.
759	759	SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
760	760
761	761	59-1-666 TEK 1/18/2023 9:59:21 AM

Oklahoma 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB644 Compare Versions