Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H5034 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2025 -- H 5034
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7	7	LC000321
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9	9	S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- OPEN MEETINGS
16	16	Introduced By: Representatives Edwards, Cortvriend, Knight, Speakman, Shanley,
17	17	Craven, Caldwell, Chippendale, and Newberry
18	18	Date Introduced: January 10, 2025
19	19	Referred To: House State Government & Elections
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21	21
22	22	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
23	23	SECTION 1. Section 42-46-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-46 entitled "Open 1
24	24	Meetings" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
25	25	42-46-6. Notice. 3
26	26	(a) All public bodies shall give written notice of their regularly scheduled meetings at the 4
27	27	beginning of each calendar year. The notice shall include the dates, times, and places of the 5
28	28	meetings and shall be provided to members of the public upon request and to the secretary of state 6
29	29	at the beginning of each calendar year in accordance with subsection (f). 7
30	30	(b) Public bodies shall give supplemental written public notice of any meeting within a 8
31	31	minimum of forty-eight (48) hours, excluding weekends and state holidays in the count of hours, 9
32	32	before the date. This notice shall include the date the notice was posted; the date, time, and place 10
33	33	of the meeting; and a statement specifying the nature of the business to be discussed. Copies of the 11
34	34	notice shall be maintained by the public body for a minimum of one year. Nothing contained herein 12
35	35	shall prevent a public body, other than a school committee, from adding additional items to the 13
36	36	agenda by majority vote of the members. School committees may, however, add items for 14
37	37	informational purposes only, pursuant to a request, submitted in writing, by a member of the public 15
38	38	during the public comment session of the school committee’s meetings. Said informational items 16
39	39	may not be voted upon unless they have been posted in accordance with the provisions of this 17
40	40	section. Such additional items shall be for informational purposes only and may not be voted on 18
41	41	except where necessary to address an unexpected occurrence that requires immediate action to 19
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44	44	LC000321 - Page 2 of 4
45	45	protect the public or to refer the matter to an appropriate committee or to another body or official. 1
46	46	(c) Written public notice shall include, but need not be limited to, posting a copy of the 2
47	47	notice at the principal office of the public body holding the meeting, or if no principal office exists, 3
48	48	at the building in which the meeting is to be held, and in at least one other prominent place within 4
49	49	the governmental unit, and electronic filing of the notice with the secretary of state pursuant to 5
50	50	subsection (f); however, nothing contained herein shall prevent a public body from holding an 6
51	51	emergency meeting, upon an affirmative vote of the majority of the members of the body when the 7
52	52	meeting is deemed necessary to address an unexpected occurrence that requires immediate action 8
53	53	to protect the public. If an emergency meeting is called, a meeting notice and agenda shall be posted 9
54	54	as soon as practicable and shall be electronically filed with the secretary of state pursuant to 10
55	55	subsection (f) and, upon meeting, the public body shall state for the record and minutes why the 11
56	56	matter must be addressed in less than forty-eight (48) hours in accordance with subsection (b) of 12
57	57	this section and only discuss the issue or issues that created the need for an emergency meeting. 13
58	58	Nothing contained herein shall be used in the circumvention of the spirit and requirements of this 14
59	59	chapter. 15
60	60	(d) Nothing within this chapter shall prohibit any public body, or the members thereof, 16
61	61	from responding to comments initiated by a member of the public during a properly noticed open 17
62	62	forum even if the subject matter of a citizen’s comments or discussions were not previously posted, 18
63	63	provided such matters shall be for informational purposes only and may not be voted on except 19
64	64	where necessary to address an unexpected occurrence that requires immediate action to protect the 20
65	65	public or to refer the matter to an appropriate committee or to another body or official. Nothing 21
66	66	contained in this chapter requires any public body to hold an open-forum session to entertain or 22
67	67	respond to any topic nor does it prohibit any public body from limiting comment on any topic at 23
68	68	such an open-forum session. No public body, or the members thereof, may use this section to 24
69	69	circumvent the spirit or requirements of this chapter. 25
70	70	(e) A school committee may add agenda items not appearing in the published notice 26
71	71	required by this section when the item(s) added are for the purposes of discussion only and not for 27
72	72	the purpose of voting upon that item(s) or under the following conditions: 28
73	73	(1) The revised agenda is electronically filed with the secretary of state pursuant to 29
74	74	subsection (f), and is posted on the school district’s website and the two (2) public locations 30
75	75	required by this section at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the meeting in accordance with 31
76	76	subsection (b) of this section; 32
77	77	(2) The new agenda items were unexpected and could not have been added in time for 33
78	78	newspaper publication; 34
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82	82	(3) Upon meeting, the public body states for the record and minutes why the agenda items 1
83	83	could not have been added in time for newspaper publication and need to be addressed at the 2
84	84	meeting; 3
85	85	(4) A formal process is available to provide timely notice of the revised agenda to any 4
86	86	person who has requested that notice, and the school district has taken reasonable steps to make the 5
87	87	public aware of this process; and 6
88	88	(5) The published notice shall include a statement that any changes in the agenda will be 7
89	89	posted on the school district’s website and the two (2) public locations required by this section and 8
90	90	will be electronically filed with the secretary of state at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of 9
91	91	the meeting in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. 10
92	92	(f) All notices required by this section to be filed with the secretary of state shall be 11
93	93	electronically transmitted to the secretary of state in accordance with rules and regulations that shall 12
94	94	be promulgated by the secretary of state. This requirement of the electronic transmission and filing 13
95	95	of notices with the secretary of state shall take effect one year after this subsection takes effect. 14
96	96	(g) If a public body fails to transmit notices in accordance with this section, then any 15
97	97	aggrieved person may file a complaint with the attorney general in accordance with § 42-46-8. 16
98	98	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 17
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105	105	EXPLANATION
106	106	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
107	107	OF
108	108	A N A C T
109	109	RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- OPEN MEETINGS
110	110	***
111	111	This act would allow school committees to add item(s) not appearing in the published 1
112	112	notice to their agendas for the purposes of discussion only and not for the purpose of voting upon 2
113	113	the item(s). 3
114	114	This act would take effect upon passage. 4
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