HB558 Alabama 2021 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Ben Robbins Representative

Republican

Co-Sponsor

Howard Sanderford

Session

Regular Session 2021

Title

Open Meetings Act, participation in meetings by electronic communication further provided, Sec. 36-25A-5.1 am'd.

Description

<p class="bill_description">Under existing law, certain governmental

bodies may conduct meetings where certain members

may participate by means of telephone conference,

video conference, or other similar communications

equipment, so long as all persons participating in

the meeting can hear each other at the same time.</p><p class="bill_description">However, participants communicating in this manner

are not considered present at the meeting for

purposes of establishing a quorum.</p><p class="bill_description">This bill would provide that at every

meeting of a governmental body, members may

participate in the meeting through electronic

communication, and such participation by a member

is considered present for purposes of establishing

a quorum.</p><p class="bill_description">This bill would provide if a meeting is

conducted through electronic communication, the

meeting must be conducted in such a manner as to

allow members of the public to hear all persons

participating remotely and participate as otherwise

required by the Open Meetings Act.</p><p class="bill_description">This bill would also provide that if a

meeting of a governmental body is conducted through

electronic communication, the governmental body

must post a summary of the meeting in a prominent

location on its website or, if it has no website,

in any other location or using any other method

designed to provide reasonable notice to the

public. The summary shall recount the deliberations

conducted and the actions taken with reasonable

specificity to allow the public to understand what

happened at the meeting summarized.</p>

Subjects

State Government