Bill Text: FL H0285 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Public Meetings

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [H0285 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0285-Introduced.html

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HB 285

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public meetings; amending s. 286.011,
3	F.S.; providing a right for members of the public to be
4	heard at meetings of certain governmental boards and
5	commissions; prescribing conditions qualifying, and
6	exceptions to, the right; providing for the adoption of
7	rules governing the conduct of, and behavior at, the
8	meetings; providing an effective date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1.  Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, is amended
13	to read:
14	286.011  Public meetings and records; public inspection;
15	criminal and civil penalties.-
16	(1)(a)  All meetings of any board or commission of any
17	state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any
18	county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision, except
19	as otherwise provided in the Constitution, at which official
20	acts are to be taken:
21	1.  Are declared to be public meetings open to the public
22	at all times;, and
23	2.  Shall include an opportunity for members of the public
24	to be heard before or during consideration of any agenda item on
25	which an official act will be taken, subject to reasonable rules
26	or policies adopted by the board or commission to ensure the
27	orderly conduct of a public meeting.
28
29	No resolution, rule, or formal action shall be considered
30	binding except as taken or made at such meeting. The board or
31	commission must provide reasonable notice of all such meetings.
32	(b)  The requirements of subparagraph (a)2. do not apply
33	to:
34	1.  An official act that must be taken to deal with an
35	emergency situation affecting the public health, welfare, or
36	safety, when compliance with the requirements would cause an
37	unreasonable delay in the ability of the board or commission to
38	act; or
39	2.  An official act involving no more than a ministerial
40	act.
41	(c)  A board or commission subject to chapter 120 shall
42	adopt rules under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 as provided in
43	subparagraph (a)2. which may:
44	1.  Limit the time an individual has to address the board
45	or commission;
46	2.  Require, at meetings in which a large number of
47	individuals may wish to be heard, that a representative of a
48	group or faction on an issue, rather than all of the members of
49	the group or faction, address the board or commission; or
50	3.  Prescribe procedures or forms for an individual to use
51	in order to inform the board or commission of a desire to be
52	heard.
53	(2)  The minutes of a meeting of any such board or
54	commission of any such state agency or authority shall be
55	promptly recorded, and such records shall be open to public
56	inspection. The circuit courts of this state shall have
57	jurisdiction to issue injunctions to enforce the purposes of
58	this section upon application by any citizen of this state.
59	(3)(a)  Any public officer who violates any provision of
60	this section is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable
61	by fine not exceeding $500.
62	(b)  Any person who is a member of a board or commission or
63	of any state agency or authority of any county, municipal
64	corporation, or political subdivision who knowingly violates the
65	provisions of this section by attending a meeting not held in
66	accordance with the provisions hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor
67	of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
68	775.083.
69	(c)  Conduct which occurs outside the state which would
70	constitute a knowing violation of this section is a misdemeanor
71	of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
72	775.083.
73	(4)  Whenever an action has been filed against any board or
74	commission of any state agency or authority or any agency or
75	authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political
76	subdivision to enforce the provisions of this section or to
77	invalidate the actions of any such board, commission, agency, or
78	authority, which action was taken in violation of this section,
79	and the court determines that the defendant or defendants to
80	such action acted in violation of this section, the court shall
81	assess a reasonable attorney's fee against such agency, and may
82	assess a reasonable attorney's fee against the individual filing
83	such an action if the court finds it was filed in bad faith or
84	was frivolous. Any fees so assessed may be assessed against the
85	individual member or members of such board or commission;
86	provided, that in any case where the board or commission seeks
87	the advice of its attorney and such advice is followed, no such
88	fees shall be assessed against the individual member or members
89	of the board or commission. However, this subsection shall not
90	apply to a state attorney or his or her duly authorized
91	assistants or any officer charged with enforcing the provisions
92	of this section.
93	(5)  Whenever any board or commission of any state agency
94	or authority or any agency or authority of any county, municipal
95	corporation, or political subdivision appeals any court order
96	which has found said board, commission, agency, or authority to
97	have violated this section, and such order is affirmed, the
98	court shall assess a reasonable attorney's fee for the appeal
99	against such board, commission, agency, or authority. Any fees
100	so assessed may be assessed against the individual member or
101	members of such board or commission; provided, that in any case
102	where the board or commission seeks the advice of its attorney
103	and such advice is followed, no such fees shall be assessed
104	against the individual member or members of the board or
105	commission.
106	(6)  All persons subject to subsection (1) are prohibited
107	from holding meetings at any facility or location which
108	discriminates on the basis of sex, age, race, creed, color,
109	origin, or economic status or which operates in such a manner as
110	to unreasonably restrict public access to such a facility.
111	(7)  Whenever any member of any board or commission of any
112	state agency or authority or any agency or authority of any
113	county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision is
114	charged with a violation of this section and is subsequently
115	acquitted, the board or commission is authorized to reimburse
116	said member for any portion of his or her reasonable attorney's
117	fees.
118	(8)  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), any
119	board or commission of any state agency or authority or any
120	agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or
121	political subdivision, and the chief administrative or executive
122	officer of the governmental entity, may meet in private with the
123	entity's attorney to discuss pending litigation to which the
124	entity is presently a party before a court or administrative
125	agency, provided that the following conditions are met:
126	(a)  The entity's attorney shall advise the entity at a
127	public meeting that he or she desires advice concerning the
128	litigation.
129	(b)  The subject matter of the meeting shall be confined to
130	settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to
131	litigation expenditures.
132	(c)  The entire session shall be recorded by a certified
133	court reporter. The reporter shall record the times of
134	commencement and termination of the session, all discussion and
135	proceedings, the names of all persons present at any time, and
136	the names of all persons speaking. No portion of the session
137	shall be off the record. The court reporter's notes shall be
138	fully transcribed and filed with the entity's clerk within a
139	reasonable time after the meeting.
140	(d)  The entity shall give reasonable public notice of the
141	time and date of the attorney-client session and the names of
142	persons who will be attending the session. The session shall
143	commence at an open meeting at which the persons chairing the
144	meeting shall announce the commencement and estimated length of
145	the attorney-client session and the names of the persons
146	attending. At the conclusion of the attorney-client session, the
147	meeting shall be reopened, and the person chairing the meeting
148	shall announce the termination of the session.
149	(e)  The transcript shall be made part of the public record
150	upon conclusion of the litigation.
151	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.