Annual Meeting Resolutions With Religious Leaders In Tarrant
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The Open Meeting Act Made Easy is a handbook in a question-and-answer format that covers the most frequently asked questions about the Texas Open Meetings Act (“the Act”). The handbook addresses when the Act applies, what constitutes reasonable notice and the application of the Act to informal gatherings.
The Texas Open Meetings Act was enacted to ensure the Texas government is transparent, open, and accountable to the people. At its core, the Texas Open Meetings Act requires government entities to keep official business accessible to the public.
The Open Meetings Act (Government Code, Chapter 551) provides that meetings of governmental bodies must be open to the public (except for expressly authorized executive sessions). Both state and regional agencies file notices of open meetings with the Secretary of State's office.
Sec. 551.002. OPEN MEETINGS REQUIREMENT. Every regular, special, or called meeting of a governmental body shall be open to the public, except as provided by this chapter.
California. Both Acts provide that it is a misdemeanor for a member of a state or legislative body to attend a meeting in violation of any provision of the Act, where the member intends to deprive the public of information to which the member knows or has reason to know the public is entitled.
It is a misdemeanor for a member of a governing body to conspire to circumvent the Act by meeting in numbers of less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations. It Page 6 -6- is punishable by a fine of between $100 and $500, one to six months in jail, or both. 3.
Section 551.007 gives a member of the public the right to participate in a meeting by addressing the governmental body about items on the meeting's agenda. A governmental body may offer additional or alternative ways for a member of the public to participate in the meeting, but it remains the member's choice.
