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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- OPEN MEETINGS |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Representative Joseph M. McNamara |
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| 17 | 17 | | Date Introduced: January 19, 2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Referred To: House State Government & Elections |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. Section 42-46-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-46 entitled "Open 1 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Meetings" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 42-46-6. Notice. 3 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) All public bodies shall give written notice of their regularly scheduled meetings at the 4 |
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| 26 | 26 | | beginning of each calendar year. The notice shall include the dates, times, and places of the 5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | meetings and shall be provided to members of the public upon request and to the secretary of state 6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | at the beginning of each calendar year in accordance with subsection (f). 7 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (b) Public bodies shall give supplemental written public notice of any meeting within a 8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | minimum of forty-eight (48) hours, excluding weekends and state holidays in the count of hours, 9 |
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| 31 | 31 | | before the date. This notice shall include the date the notice was posted; the date, time, and place 10 |
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| 32 | 32 | | of the meeting; and a statement specifying the nature of the business to be discussed. Copies of the 11 |
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| 33 | 33 | | notice shall be maintained by the public body for a minimum of one year. Nothing contained herein 12 |
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| 34 | 34 | | shall prevent a public body, other than a school committee, from adding additional items to the 13 |
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| 35 | 35 | | agenda by majority vote of the members. School committees may, however, add items for 14 |
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| 36 | 36 | | informational purposes only, pursuant to a request, submitted in writing, by a member of the public 15 |
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| 37 | 37 | | during the public comment session of the school committee’s meetings. Said informational items 16 |
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| 38 | 38 | | may not be voted upon unless they have been posted in accordance with the provisions of this 17 |
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| 39 | 39 | | section. Such additional items shall be for informational purposes only and may not be voted on 18 |
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| 40 | 40 | | except where necessary to address an unexpected occurrence that requires immediate action to 19 |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | protect the public or to refer the matter to an appropriate committee or to another body or official. 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (c) Written public notice shall include, but need not be limited to, posting a copy of the 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | notice at the principal office of the public body holding the meeting, or if no principal office exists, 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | at the building in which the meeting is to be held, and in at least one other prominent place within 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | the governmental unit, and electronic filing of the notice with the secretary of state pursuant to 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | subsection (f); however, nothing contained herein shall prevent a public body from holding an 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | emergency meeting, upon an affirmative vote of the majority of the members of the body when the 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | meeting is deemed necessary to address an unexpected occurrence that requires immediate action 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | to protect the public. If an emergency meeting is called, a meeting notice and agenda shall be posted 9 |
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| 53 | 53 | | as soon as practicable and shall be electronically filed with the secretary of state pursuant to 10 |
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| 54 | 54 | | subsection (f) and, upon meeting, the public body shall state for the record and minutes why the 11 |
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| 55 | 55 | | matter must be addressed in less than forty-eight (48) hours in accordance with subsection (b) of 12 |
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| 56 | 56 | | this section and only discuss the issue or issues that created the need for an emergency meeting. 13 |
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| 57 | 57 | | Nothing contained herein shall be used in the circumvention of the spirit and requirements of this 14 |
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| 58 | 58 | | chapter. 15 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (d) Nothing within this chapter shall prohibit any public body, or the members thereof, 16 |
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| 60 | 60 | | from responding to comments initiated by a member of the public during a properly noticed open 17 |
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| 61 | 61 | | forum even if the subject matter of a citizen’s comments or discussions were not previously posted, 18 |
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| 62 | 62 | | provided such matters shall be for informational purposes only and may not be voted on except 19 |
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| 63 | 63 | | where necessary to address an unexpected occurrence that requires immediate action to protect the 20 |
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| 64 | 64 | | public or to refer the matter to an appropriate committee or to another body or official. Nothing 21 |
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| 65 | 65 | | contained in this chapter requires any public body to hold an open-forum session to entertain or 22 |
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| 66 | | - | respond to any topic which is not posted for public hearing on the meeting notice posted for that 23 |
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| 67 | | - | hearing nor does it prohibit any public body from limiting comment on any topic which is not 24 |
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| 68 | | - | posted for public hearing on the meeting notice posted for that hearing at such an open-forum 25 |
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| 69 | | - | session. If a public hearing was posted, the public body shall allow citizens to comment on a matter 26 |
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| 70 | | - | at that public meeting if the posted subject matter posted for that hearing is withdrawn or held over 27 |
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| 71 | | - | for vote at a future meeting of that public body. No public body, or the members thereof, may use 28 |
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| 72 | | - | this section to circumvent the spirit or requirements of this chapter. 29 |
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| 66 | + | respond to any topic which is not a topic on the meeting notice previously posted nor does it prohibit 23 |
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| 67 | + | any public body from limiting comment on any topic which is not a topic on the meeting notice 24 |
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| 68 | + | previously posted at such an open-forum session. If a subject matter was previously posted, the 25 |
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| 69 | + | public body shall allow citizens to comment on that matter at that public meeting even if the posted 26 |
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| 70 | + | subject matter is withdrawn or held over for vote at a future meeting of that public body. No public 27 |
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| 71 | + | body, or the members thereof, may use this section to circumvent the spirit or requirements of this 28 |
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| 72 | + | chapter. 29 |
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| 81 | 81 | | subsection (b) of this section; 1 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (2) The new agenda items were unexpected and could not have been added in time for 2 |
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| 83 | 83 | | newspaper publication; 3 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (3) Upon meeting, the public body states for the record and minutes why the agenda items 4 |
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| 85 | 85 | | could not have been added in time for newspaper publication and need to be addressed at the 5 |
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| 86 | 86 | | meeting; 6 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (4) A formal process is available to provide timely notice of the revised agenda to any 7 |
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| 88 | 88 | | person who has requested that notice, and the school district has taken reasonable steps to make the 8 |
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| 89 | 89 | | public aware of this process; and 9 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (5) The published notice shall include a statement that any changes in the agenda will be 10 |
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| 91 | 91 | | posted on the school district’s website and the two (2) public locations required by this section and 11 |
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| 92 | 92 | | will be electronically filed with the secretary of state at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of 12 |
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| 93 | 93 | | the meeting in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. 13 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (f) All notices required by this section to be filed with the secretary of state shall be 14 |
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| 95 | 95 | | electronically transmitted to the secretary of state in accordance with rules and regulations that shall 15 |
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| 96 | 96 | | be promulgated by the secretary of state. This requirement of the electronic transmission and filing 16 |
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| 97 | 97 | | of notices with the secretary of state shall take effect one year after this subsection takes effect. 17 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (g) If a public body fails to transmit notices in accordance with this section, then any 18 |
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| 99 | 99 | | aggrieved person may file a complaint with the attorney general in accordance with § 42-46-8. 19 |
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