Bill Text: HI SB3172 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Relating To Public Agency Meetings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2022-06-27 - Notice of intent to veto (Gov. Msg. No. 1216) [SB3172 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SB3172-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3172
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 2
		C.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO PUBLIC AGENCY MEETINGS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that opening the governmental process to public scrutiny and participation is necessary to protect the public's interests.  Therefore, the discussions, deliberations, decisions, and actions of governmental agencies in the formation and conduct of public policy should be conducted as openly as possible.

     The legislature further finds that members of the public who are interested but do not have the ability to attend meetings, or the time or technology to listen to recordings of the meetings, are unnecessarily prevented from exercising their right to participate.  In many cases, the written summaries that accompany any recordings of meetings are incomplete and do not meet the standards for written minutes of a meeting as required in section 92-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, nor were such written summaries intended to be a substitute for the meeting minutes required by law.

     The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Require that any electronic audio or visual recording of a board meeting be maintained as a public record regardless of whether the written minutes of the meeting have been posted;

     (2)  Amend the information that must be included as part of the written minutes of board meetings; and

     (3)  Repeal the option for boards to provide recorded minutes accompanied by written summaries as an alternative to written minutes of board meetings.

     SECTION 2.  Section 92-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

     "(a)  The board shall keep written [or recorded] minutes of all meetings.  [Unless otherwise required by law, neither a full transcript nor a recording of the meeting is required, but the] If an electronic audio or video recording of the meeting is made by or on behalf of the board, the recording shall also be maintained as a public record; provided that the recording shall be posted regardless of whether the written minutes of the meeting have been posted pursuant to subsection (b) after the meeting; provided further that only one recording is required to be kept.  The written minutes shall give a true reflection of the matters discussed at the meeting and the views of the participants[.  Written minutes] and shall include, but need not be limited to:

     (1)  The date, time, and place of the meeting;

     (2)  The members of the board recorded as either present or absent;

     (3)  The substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided; and a record, by individual member, of any votes taken; [and]

     (4)  If an electronic audio or video recording of the meeting is available, a link to the electronic audio or video recording of the meeting, to be placed at the beginning of the minutes;

     (5)  If an electronic audio or video recording of the meeting is available, a time stamp indicating when in the recording the board began discussion of each agenda item, to be placed at the beginning of each agenda item discussion in the minutes; and

    [(4)] (6)  Any other information that any member of the board requests be included or reflected in the minutes.

     (b)  The minutes shall be made available to the public by posting on the board's website or, if the board does not have a website, on an appropriate state or county website within forty days after the meeting except where such disclosure would be inconsistent with section 92-5; provided that minutes of executive meetings may be withheld so long as their publication would defeat the lawful purpose of the executive meeting, but no longer.  [A written summary shall accompany any minutes that are posted in a digital or analog recording format and shall include:

     (1)  The date, time, and place of the meeting;

     (2)  The members of the board recorded as either present or absent, and the times when individual members entered or left the meeting;

     (3)  A record, by individual member, of motions and votes made by the board; and

     (4)  A time stamp or other reference indicating when in the recording the board began discussion of each agenda item and when motions and votes were made by the board.]"

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on October 1, 2022.

 

 

Report Title:

Meeting Minutes; Public Record; Boards

 

Description:

Requires that any electronic audio or video recording of a board meeting be maintained as a public record, regardless of whether the written minutes of the board meeting have been posted.  Amends the information that must be included as part of the written minutes of board meetings.  Repeals the option for boards to provide recorded minutes accompanied by written summaries as an alternative to written minutes of board meetings.  Effective 10/1/2022.  (CD1)

 

 

 

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