California’s open meetings law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires that meetings of a local agency’s governing body be open to the public, except in specific circumstances. The Brown Act also requires that on request by a member of the public, the agency must mail that person a copy of the agenda for a governing body meeting, or a copy of all the documents constituting the agenda packet.
SB 274 aims to improve accessibility of these materials. It does this by allowing members of the public to request delivery of agendas and agenda packets by email. Under SB 274, if a person requests a copy of a local agency governing body meeting agenda or agenda packet, the agency must email the person either the requested documents or a link to a website where the documents can be accessed. If a local agency determines that it is technologically infeasible to send an entire agenda packet by email or make it available online, the agency has the option to instead send only the agenda by email and mail the remainder of the agenda packet.
(SB 274 amends Section 54954.1 of the Government Code.)