AB 2302 – Open Meeting – Local Agencies (Brown Act)

The Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) requires, that the meetings of a local agency’s legislative body be open to the public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate, with specified exceptions. In 2022, the Brown Act was amended to allow for less than a majority of a legislative body to attend via teleconference when a majority of the board (a quorum) participated from a single physical location open to the public.

These amendments to the Brown Act also prescribed restrictions on remote participation by a member of the legislative body including establishing limits on the number of meetings the member may participate in solely by teleconference. Under the amended statute, a member is prohibited from participating by teleconference for a period of more than three (3) consecutive months or twenty percent (20%) of the regular meetings for the local agency within a calendar year, or more than two (2) meetings if the legislative body regularly meets fewer than ten (10) times per calendar year.

Assembly Bill 2302 (AB 2302) revises those limits, instead prohibiting such participation for more than a specified number of meetings per year, based on how frequently the legislative body regularly meets. Specifically, a member will be limited to remotely participating in the following number of meetings:

• Two (2) meetings per year if legislative body meets one (1) time each month or less;
• Five (5) meetings per year if legislative body meets two (2) times per month; or
• Seven (7) meetings per year if legislative body meets three (3) or more times per month.

(AB 2302 amends section 54953 of the Government Code.)