KEY QUESTION: What is the proper procedure for scheduling or rescheduling Commissioners Court meetings as necessitated by an emergency?
REFERENCE POINT:
- Texas Government Code Chapter 551, The Open Meetings Act, Sections 551.0411 and 551.045
TALKING POINTS:
Background:
Commissioners Court is required by law to give written notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting. The notice of a meeting of a governmental body must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting.
According to Section 0411, if Commissioners Court recesses an open meeting to the following regular business day, the law does not require Commissioners Court to post notice of the continued meeting if the action is taken in good faith and not to circumvent open meetings laws. If an open meeting is continued to the following regular business day and, on that following day, the governmental body continues the meeting to another day, the governmental body must give written notice as required of the meeting continued to that other day.
When Commissioners Court is prevented from convening an open meeting that was otherwise properly posted due to a “catastrophe,” then Commissioners Court may convene the meeting in a convenient location within 72 hours pursuant to Section 551.045 “if the action is taken in good faith and not to circumvent this chapter.”
If Commissioners Court cannot convene the open meeting within those 72 hours, the governmental body may subsequently convene the meeting “only if the Court gives written notice of the meeting as required by this subchapter,” or in other words reposts the meeting for 72 hours as another meeting.
According to this statute, “catastrophe” means a condition or occurrence that interferes physically with the ability of a governmental body to conduct a meeting including:
- fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or wind, rain, or snowstorm;
- power failure, transportation failure, or interruption of communication facilities;
- epidemic; or
- riot, civil disturbance, enemy attack, or other actual or threatened act of lawlessness or violence.
Special rules allow posting a notice of an emergency meeting and for supplementing a posted notice with emergency items. These rules affect the timing and content of the notice but not its physical location.
According to Section 551.045, in an emergency or when there is an urgent public necessity, the notice of an emergency meeting or the addition of an emergency agenda item for a meeting for which notice has already been posted “is sufficient if the notice is posted for at least one hour before the meeting is convened.”
A governmental body may not deliberate or take action on a matter other than:
- a matter directly related to responding to the emergency or urgent public necessity identified in the notice or supplemental notice of the meeting; or
- an agenda item listed on a notice of the meeting before the supplemental notice was posted.
An emergency or an urgent public necessity exists only if immediate action is required of a governmental body because of an imminent threat to public health and safety or in the case of a reasonably unforeseeable situation including:
- fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or wind, rain, or snowstorm;
- power failure, transportation failure, or interruption of communication facilities;
- epidemic; or
- riot, civil disturbance, enemy attack, or other actual or threatened act of lawlessness or violence.
The governmental body shall clearly identify the emergency or urgent public necessity in the notice or supplemental notice.
“Because there are criminal penalties for participating in a meeting that is not properly noticed, it is prudent to consult legal counsel on any notice of an emergency meeting,” suggested CJCAT Senior General Counsel Jim Allison.
On a related note, Texas Government Code Sec. 552.2325, added by the 86th Texas Legislature’s Senate Bill 494, allows for the temporary suspension of the requirements of the Public Information Act for an initial suspension period of seven days for governmental bodies impacted by a catastrophe. Sect. 552.2325 explains the requirements to apply for and extend the suspension period, which include submitting notice to the office of the attorney general.
For additional details on the Senate Bill 494, 86th Legislature, scan here: https://hro.house.texas.gov/pdf/ba86r/sb0494.pdf#navpanes=0. (convert to QR code)
For additional details on Open Meetings During Emergencies, scan here : https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/divisions/open-government/openmeetings_hb.pdf.
