SB41 • 2026

PUBLIC MEETINGS: Expands the number of days required for public bodies to publish minutes for open meetings from twenty days to forty-five days. (8/1/26)

Education

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Robert Allain
Last action: 2026-05-22
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 348
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation incorrectly states that the deadline is being expanded from twenty days to forty-five days, whereas the actual bill text shows an expansion to thirty-one days.

Expanding Time for Publishing Meeting Minutes

This act increases the time public bodies have to publish minutes of their meetings from twenty days to thirty-one days.

What This Bill Does

Changes the law to require public bodies to publish meeting minutes within thirty-one days instead of twenty days.

Who It Names or Affects

Public bodies such as municipal corporations, police juries, and school boards.

Terms To Know

Minutes: The official record of what happened in a meeting.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify how public bodies should handle meetings that occur less than thirty-one days before the end of their fiscal year.
Updates to penalties are not detailed, only the time frame is extended.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Summary of House Amendments to SB41

Filed

Plain English: The amendment reduces the number of days public bodies have to publish minutes from forty-five days to thirty-one days.

Reduces the time period for publishing meeting minutes from forty-five days to thirty-one days.

The original bill proposed a change from twenty days to forty-five days, but the amendment modifies this to thirty-one days. The exact reasons or impacts of changing it to thirty-one days are not detailed in the provided text.

House Committee Amendment #4765 H&G Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: HCASB41 4311 4765 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs to Engrossed Senate Bill No.

HCASB41 4311 4765 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs to Engrossed Senate Bill No.
41 by Senator Allain 1 AMENDMENT NO.
1 2 On page 1, at the beginning of line 10, delete "forty-five" and insert "thirty-one" Page 1 of 1 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions.

House Committee Amendment #4737 H&G Draft

Draft

Plain English: HCASB41 4311 4737 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs to Engrossed Senate Bill No.

HCASB41 4311 4737 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs to Engrossed Senate Bill No.
41 by Senator Allain 1 AMENDMENT NO.
1 2 On page 1, at the beginning of line 10, delete "forty-five" and insert "thirty-one" Page 1 of 1 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions.

Bill History

2026-05-22 S
Effective date 8/1/2026.
2026-05-22 S
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 348.
2026-05-20 S
Sent to the Governor by the Secretary of the Senate.
2026-05-19 H
Signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-19 S
Enrolled. Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-18 S
Amendments proposed by the House read and concurred in by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays.
2026-05-11 S
Received from the House with amendments.
2026-05-11 H
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 98, nays 0. Finally passed, ordered to the Senate.
2026-05-07 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 05/11/2026.
2026-05-06 H
Read by title, amended, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-05-05 H
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments.
2026-04-29 H
Reported with amendments (6-4). Referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-03-25 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.
2026-03-24 H
Received in the House from the Senate, read by title, lies over under the rules.
2026-03-23 S
Read by title, passed by a vote of 34 yeas and 0 nays, and sent to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-03-16 S
Read by title. Ordered engrossed and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-03-11 S
Reported favorably.
2026-03-09 S
Introduced in the Senate; read by title. Rules suspended. Read second time and referred to the Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs.
2026-02-10 S
Prefiled and under the rules provisionally referred to the Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs.

Official Summary Text

PUBLIC MEETINGS: Expands the number of days required for public bodies to publish minutes for open meetings from twenty days to forty-five days. (8/1/26)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

2026 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE BILL NO. 41
BY SENATOR ALLAIN
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 43:144, relative to penalties for failure to timely publish minutes;
3 to expand the number of days for publication of minutes; and to provide for related
4 matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 43:144 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 §144. Penalty for failure to have proceedings published
8 The official of any municipal corporation, police jury, or school board by law
9 responsible for the preparing and recording of the official proceedings who, within
10 twenty thirty-one days from the date of any meeting at which the official
11 proceedings were had, wilfully neglects or fails to furnish the official journal with
12 a copy of the minutes, ordinances, resolutions, budgets, and proceedings for
13 publication, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than five
14 hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than six
15 months, or both.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
ACT No. 348
Page 1 of 1
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.