Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB889 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	83R18980 RWG-F
2	2	By: Fallon, Callegari, H.B. No. 889
3	3	N. Gonzalez of El Paso, Reynolds,
4	4	Canales, et al.
5	5	Substitute the following for H.B.
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the requirement that certain governmental bodies make
11	11	audio and video recordings of open meetings available on the
12	12	Internet.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Section 551.128, Government Code, is amended by
15	15	amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1),
16	16	(b-2), (b-3), (b-4), (b-5), and (b-6) to read as follows:
17	17	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1) and subject
18	18	[Subject] to the requirements of this section, a governmental body
19	19	may broadcast an open meeting over the Internet.
20	20	(b-1) A county commissioners court, an elected school
21	21	district board of trustees, or an elected governing body of a
22	22	home-rule municipality, if the county, school district, or
23	23	municipality has a population of 50,000 or more, shall:
24	24	(1) make a video and audio recording of reasonable
25	25	quality of each regularly scheduled open meeting that is not a work
26	26	session or a special called meeting; and
27	27	(2) make available an archived copy of the video and
28	28	audio recording of each meeting described by Subdivision (1) on the
29	29	Internet under this subsection.
30	30	(b-2) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1) may
31	31	make available the archived recording of a meeting required by
32	32	Subsection (b-1) on an existing Internet site, including a publicly
33	33	accessible video-sharing or social networking site. The
34	34	governmental body is not required to establish a separate Internet
35	35	site and provide access to archived recordings of meetings from
36	36	that site.
37	37	(b-3) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1)
38	38	that maintains an Internet site shall make available on that site,
39	39	in a conspicuous manner:
40	40	(1) the archived recording of each meeting to which
41	41	Subsection (b-1) applies; or
42	42	(2) an accessible link to the archived recording of
43	43	each such meeting.
44	44	(b-4) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1)
45	45	shall:
46	46	(1) make the archived recording of each meeting to
47	47	which Subsection (b-1) applies available on the Internet not later
48	48	than seven days after the date the recording was made; and
49	49	(2) maintain the archived recording on the Internet
50	50	for not less than two years after the date the recording was first
51	51	made available.
52	52	(b-5) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1) is
53	53	exempt from the requirements of Subsections (b-2) and (b-4) if the
54	54	governmental body's failure to make the required recording of a
55	55	meeting available is the result of a catastrophe, as defined by
56	56	Section 551.0411, or a technical breakdown. Following a catastrophe
57	57	or breakdown, a governmental body must make all reasonable efforts
58	58	to make the required recording available in a timely manner.
59	59	(b-6) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1) may
60	60	broadcast a regularly scheduled open meeting of the body on
61	61	television.
62	62	(c) Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), a [A]
63	63	governmental body that broadcasts a meeting over the Internet shall
64	64	establish an Internet site and provide access to the broadcast from
65	65	that site. The governmental body shall provide on the Internet site
66	66	the same notice of the meeting that the governmental body is
67	67	required to post under Subchapter C. The notice on the Internet must
68	68	be posted within the time required for posting notice under
69	69	Subchapter C.
70	70	SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
71	71	an open meeting held on or after the effective date of this Act. An
72	72	open meeting that is held before the effective date of this Act is
73	73	governed by the law in effect on the date of the open meeting, and
74	74	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
75	75	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.