STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 54th Legislature (2013)

HOUSE BILL 1452	By:	Murphey of the House  

				and

		Holt of the Senate

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to public bodies; creating the Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act; establishing purpose; defining terms; requiring records of certain entities to be open for inspection; permitting reasonable charge; requiring records of legislative work product be released by certain time; requiring notice and agenda be posted prior to certain meetings; permitting appeal if access to records is denied; permitting complaint to be filed with certain committee; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.1 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall be known and may be cited as the “Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act”.
SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.2 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As the Oklahoma Constitution recognizes and guarantees, all political power is inherent in the people of Oklahoma.
It is the public policy of the Legislature of the State of Oklahoma to encourage and facilitate an informed citizenry’s understanding of the legislative process.  The purpose of the Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act is to provide the public with the means to hold their legislators to account so that the public may exercise their inherent political power. 
SECTION 3.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.3 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The following words and phrases as used in the Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:
1.  “Agenda” means the listing of all items that may be considered during a meeting of a legislative body;
2.  “Legislative body” means a majority of the members of a legislative chamber.  Legislative body also means the majority of the members of a committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate that provides recommendations to the chamber as to the disposition of legislation and that meets in public at least once during a legislative session;
3.  “Legislative entity” means the House of Representatives, Senate or the Legislative Service Bureau;
4.  “Meeting” means a gathering of a majority of the members of a legislative body during which the members are polled for their viewpoint on an issue or on legislation currently pending before the Legislature.  Meeting shall not mean a meeting of a partisan caucus;
5.  “Notice” means the public posting of the time and location of a meeting of a legislative body at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the occurrence of the meeting and the public posting of a committee meeting’s agenda at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the occurrence of the meeting and the public posting of an agenda of the entire Oklahoma State Senate or Oklahoma House of Representatives on the day preceding the session;
6.  “Office” means a location designated by the Speaker of the House or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate as the location for receiving requests for records pursuant to the Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act or complaints alleging noncompliance with the Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act;
7.  "Oversight committee" means a committee designated by the Speaker of the House or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate with the responsibility of adjudicating rules-related matters for the respective chamber;
8.  “Partisan caucus” means a voluntary association of legislators in which membership is contingent on political party membership and whose recommendations are not recognized by the rules of the House of Representatives or the Senate as having an impact on the passage or rejection of legislation; and
9.  “Record” means all documents, including but not limited to any book, paper, photograph, data files, sound recording, video recording or other material regardless of physical form or characteristic, created by, received by, under the authority of, or coming into the custody, control of or possession of a legislative entity in connection with the transaction of public business.  Record does not mean communications between a legislator and a person residing within the district or geographic area represented by the legislator provided the person is not registered with the Ethics Commission as a lobbyist.  Record shall not mean scheduling information disclosing future schedules of legislators. Record shall not mean records protected by a state evidentiary privilege such as the attorney-client privilege, work product immunity from discovery, and the identity of informer privileges provided the disclosure of the record would seriously impair the ability of a legislative entity to process a claim, conduct an investigation or participate in litigation in the public interest. Record shall not mean records relating to meetings lawfully closed to the public such as executive sessions authorized under the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act in Section 301 et seq. of Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  Record shall not mean personnel records except as provided under Section 24A.7 of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  Record shall not mean documentation relating to internal personnel investigations not leading to loss of pay, suspension, demotion or termination; personnel records where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of employees such as employee evaluations, payroll deductions and employment applications submitted by a person not hired; or materials in the possession of a legislative entity originating from another state agency that are otherwise exempt from disclosure under the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Records Act in Sections 24A.1 through 24A.29 of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes. 
SECTION 4.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.4 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
All records of legislative entities shall be open to any person for inspection, copying, and mechanical reproduction during regular business hours at the designated office.  Requested records shall be provided within a reasonable amount of time.  A reasonable charge may be assessed to the person filing a request for records.  Charges shall not exceed ten cents ($0.10) per page for physical copies of records or Ten Dollars ($10.00) per gigabyte for data records.  In addition, the legislative entity may charge a reasonable fee to recover the direct cost of time spent by an employee of the legislative entity to search for and retrieve the requested record.  
SECTION 5.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.5 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
Records requests for work product directly related to the creation of legislation shall be complied within a reasonable amount of time following the first legislative deadline at which the legislation is made available to the public.  An embargo upon records requests for work product directly related to the development of legislation subsequently not filed by the author shall also exist, but shall be lifted simultaneously to the first legislative deadline at which the proposed legislation would have been made available to the public had the legislation been filed.
SECTION 6.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.6 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
Notice and an agenda shall be posted in a prominent location and on the website of each legislative entity prior to a meeting of a legislative body.  Meetings of a legislative body shall be open to the public.  Exemptions from this section shall only occur for cause and by the posting of a written instrument stating cause and signed by the Speaker of the House or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
SECTION 7.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24B.7 of Title 51, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A.  Any person denied access to a requested record may appeal the denial to the oversight committee.  Upon receiving an appeal, the oversight committee shall meet as soon as practical and shall cast a public vote either denying or directing the release of the requested record.
B.  Any person alleging noncompliance with the provisions of the Oklahoma Legislative Open Records and Meetings Act may file a complaint with the oversight committee.  The oversight committee shall investigate the complaint as soon as practical and shall hold a public vote substantively addressing each filed complaint.
SECTION 8.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2013.

54-1-6140	LRB	01/12/13