86R2301 GRM-F
By: Button H.B. No. 1356
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for meetings of certain special
districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 551.128(b-1), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(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, a
governing body of a special district subject to Chapter 51, 53, 54,
or 55, Water Code, that has a population of 500 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:
(A) regularly scheduled open meeting that is not
a work session or a special called meeting; and
(B) open meeting that is a work session or
special called meeting if:
(i) the governmental body is an elected
school district board of trustees for a school district that has a
student enrollment of 10,000 or more; and
(ii) at the work session or special called
meeting, the board of trustees votes on any matter or allows public
comment or testimony; and
(2) make available an archived copy of the video and
audio recording of each meeting described by Subdivision (1) on the
Internet.
SECTION 2. Section 49.062, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read
as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the [The] board
shall designate one or more places inside or outside the district
for conducting the meetings of the board. The meeting place may be
a private residence or office, provided that the board, in its order
establishing the meeting place, declares the same to be a public
place and invites the public to attend any meeting of the board. If
the board establishes a meeting place or places outside the
district, it shall give notice of the location or locations by
filing a true copy of the resolution establishing the location or
locations of the meeting place or places with the commission and
also by publishing notice of the location or locations in a
newspaper of general circulation in the district. If the location
of any of the meeting places outside the district is changed, notice
of the change shall be given in the same manner.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), after [After] at
least 25 qualified electors are residing in a district, on written
request of at least five of those electors, the board shall
designate a meeting place and hold meetings within the district if
it determines that the meeting place used by the district deprives
the residents of a reasonable opportunity to attend district
meetings. On the failure to designate the location of the meeting
place within the district, five electors may petition the
commission to designate a location. If it determines that the
meeting place used by the district deprives the residents of a
reasonable opportunity to attend district meetings, the commission
may designate a meeting place inside or outside the district which
is reasonably available to the public and require that the meetings
be held at such place. After the next election, the board may
designate different meeting places, including one located outside
the boundaries of the district.
(e) This subsection applies to a district with a population
of 500 or more. The board shall designate a place inside the
district for conducting the meetings of the board. If the board is
unable to designate a suitable meeting place inside the district,
the board may designate a place outside the district that is located
not farther than 10 miles from the district's boundaries.
SECTION 3. 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 that is 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.