| 1 | 1 | | 85R9591 GRM-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Fallon H.B. No. 2012 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the requirements for meetings of certain special |
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| 8 | 8 | | districts. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 551.128(b-1), Government Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (b-1) A transit authority or department subject to Chapter |
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| 13 | 13 | | 451, 452, 453, or 460, Transportation Code, an elected school |
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| 14 | 14 | | district board of trustees for a school district that has a student |
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| 15 | 15 | | enrollment of 10,000 or more, an elected governing body of a |
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| 16 | 16 | | home-rule municipality that has a population of 50,000 or more, a |
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| 17 | 17 | | governing body of a special district subject to Chapter 51, 53, 54, |
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| 18 | 18 | | or 55, Water Code, that has a population of 500 or more, or a county |
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| 19 | 19 | | commissioners court for a county that has a population of 125,000 or |
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| 20 | 20 | | more shall: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) make a video and audio recording of reasonable |
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| 22 | 22 | | quality of each regularly scheduled open meeting that is not a work |
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| 23 | 23 | | session or a special called meeting; and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2) make available an archived copy of the video and |
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| 25 | 25 | | audio recording of each meeting described by Subdivision (1) on the |
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| 26 | 26 | | Internet. |
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| 27 | 27 | | SECTION 2. Section 49.062, Water Code, is amended by |
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| 28 | 28 | | amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read |
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| 29 | 29 | | as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | (b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the [The] board |
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| 31 | 31 | | shall designate one or more places inside or outside the district |
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| 32 | 32 | | for conducting the meetings of the board. The meeting place may be |
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| 33 | 33 | | a private residence or office, provided that the board, in its order |
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| 34 | 34 | | establishing the meeting place, declares the same to be a public |
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| 35 | 35 | | place and invites the public to attend any meeting of the board. If |
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| 36 | 36 | | the board establishes a meeting place or places outside the |
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| 37 | 37 | | district, it shall give notice of the location or locations by |
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| 38 | 38 | | filing a true copy of the resolution establishing the location or |
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| 39 | 39 | | locations of the meeting place or places with the commission and |
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| 40 | 40 | | also by publishing notice of the location or locations in a |
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| 41 | 41 | | newspaper of general circulation in the district. If the location |
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| 42 | 42 | | of any of the meeting places outside the district is changed, notice |
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| 43 | 43 | | of the change shall be given in the same manner. |
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| 44 | 44 | | (c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), after [After] at |
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| 45 | 45 | | least 25 qualified electors are residing in a district, on written |
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| 46 | 46 | | request of at least five of those electors, the board shall |
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| 47 | 47 | | designate a meeting place and hold meetings within the district if |
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| 48 | 48 | | it determines that the meeting place used by the district deprives |
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| 49 | 49 | | the residents of a reasonable opportunity to attend district |
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| 50 | 50 | | meetings. On the failure to designate the location of the meeting |
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| 51 | 51 | | place within the district, five electors may petition the |
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| 52 | 52 | | commission to designate a location. If it determines that the |
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| 53 | 53 | | meeting place used by the district deprives the residents of a |
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| 54 | 54 | | reasonable opportunity to attend district meetings, the commission |
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| 55 | 55 | | may designate a meeting place inside or outside the district which |
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| 56 | 56 | | is reasonably available to the public and require that the meetings |
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| 57 | 57 | | be held at such place. After the next election, the board may |
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| 58 | 58 | | designate different meeting places, including one located outside |
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| 59 | 59 | | the boundaries of the district. |
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| 60 | 60 | | (e) This subsection applies to a district with a population |
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| 61 | 61 | | of 500 or more. The board shall designate a place inside the |
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| 62 | 62 | | district for conducting the meetings of the board. If the board is |
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| 63 | 63 | | unable to designate a suitable meeting place inside the district, |
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| 64 | 64 | | the board may designate a place outside the district that is located |
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| 65 | 65 | | not farther than 10 miles from the district's boundaries. |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 67 | 67 | | an open meeting held on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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| 68 | 68 | | open meeting that is held before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 69 | 69 | | governed by the law in effect on the date of the open meeting, and |
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| 70 | 70 | | the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 71 | 71 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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