By: Fallon, Márquez, Capriglione, H.B. No. 283
Rodriguez of Travis, Rinaldi, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirement that certain governmental bodies make
audio and video recordings of open meetings available on the
Internet.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 551.128, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1),
(b-2), (b-3), (b-4), (b-5), and (b-6) to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1) and subject
[Subject] to the requirements of this section, a governmental body
may broadcast an open meeting over the Internet.
(b-1) A transit authority or department subject to Chapter
451, 452, 453, or 460, Transportation Code, an elected school
district board of trustees for a school district that has a student
enrollment of 10,000 or more, an elected governing body of a
home-rule municipality that has a population of 50,000 or more, or a
county commissioners court for a county that has a population of
125
,000 or more shall:
(1) make a video and audio recording of reasonable
quality of each regularly scheduled open meeting that is not a work
session or a special called meeting; and
(2) make available an archived copy of the video and
audio recording of each meeting described by Subdivision (1) on the
Internet.
(b-2) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1) may
make available the archived recording of a meeting required by
Subsection (b-1) on an existing Internet site, including a publicly
accessible video-sharing or social networking site. The
governmental body is not required to establish a separate Internet
site and provide access to archived recordings of meetings from
that site.
(b-3) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1)
that maintains an Internet site shall make available on that site,
in a conspicuous manner:
(1) the archived recording of each meeting to which
Subsection (b-1) applies; or
(2) an accessible link to the archived recording of
each such meeting.
(b-4) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1)
shall:
(1) make the archived recording of each meeting to
which Subsection (b-1) applies available on the Internet not later
than seven days after the date the recording was made; and
(2) maintain the archived recording on the Internet
for not less than two years after the date the recording was first
made available.
(b-5) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1) is
exempt from the requirements of Subsections (b-2) and (b-4) if the
governmental body's failure to make the required recording of a
meeting available is the result of a catastrophe, as defined by
Section 551.0411, or a technical breakdown. Following a catastrophe
or breakdown, a governmental body must make all reasonable efforts
to make the required recording available in a timely manner.
(b-6) A governmental body described by Subsection (b-1) may
broadcast a regularly scheduled open meeting of the body on
television.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), a [A]
governmental body that broadcasts a meeting over the Internet shall
establish an Internet site and provide access to the broadcast from
that site. The governmental body shall provide on the Internet site
the same notice of the meeting that the governmental body is
required to post under Subchapter C. The notice on the Internet must
be posted within the time required for posting notice under
Subchapter C.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an open meeting held on or after the effective date of this Act. An
open meeting held before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date of the open meeting, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2016.