Establishes general requirements for meetings of governing bodies of political subdivisions

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1720
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE WEST .
5056H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 67, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to meetings of
governing bodies of political subdivisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 67, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 67.2727, to read as follows:
67.2727. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Governing body", the governing body of a political subdivision;
3 (2) "Meeting", any meeting of a governing body;
4 (3) "Political subdivision", any county , city , town, or village.
5 2. Befor e July 1, 2027, each governing body shall adopt a meeting speaker policy
6 to ensure that the requ irem ents listed in this subsection are followed at each meeting of
7 the governing body:
8 (1) Each governing body shall designate a time for public comment at the
9 beginning of each regu lar public meeting. Such public comment period shall be
10 available to res idents, businesses, and taxpayers of the political subdivision and shall be
11 subject to r easonable rules requ iring decorum and civility in the meeting space;
12 (2) No governing body shall re strict the category or content of rem arks during
13 such public comment period;
14 (3) A governing body may set a time limit on any individual who desires to speak
15 at a meeting. Each such time limit shall designate not less than thr ee minutes per
16 speaker . The governing body may limit the public comment period to one hour of actual
17 testimony or twenty speakers, whichever is less based on the number of minutes
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 designated per speaker . If the time designated for the public comment period expir es
19 and additional speakers wer e not afforded the time to speak, such additional speakers
20 shall have the opportunity to speak at the public comment period of the next regu lar
21 public meeting and the governing body shall provi de an alternate method of
22 communicating such additional speakers' concerns to the governing body;
23 (4) Each governing body may r equest identifying information of each individual
24 desiring to speak, but shall not requ ire any information other than the name and
25 addr ess of the individual as a condition of speaking;
26 (5) No governing body shall ban an individual fr om attending or re move an
27 individual fro m participating in a meeting unless such individual is banned or r emoved
28 because such individual commits the offense of peace disturbance as pr ovided in section
29 574.010, has prev iously been rem oved fr om a meeting and issued a summons for the
30 offense of peace disturbance under section 574.010, or is proh ibited fro m being on
31 pr operty of the political subdivision under state law; and
32 (6) Each governing body shall pro vide a method for an individual who is unable
33 to attend the public comment period of a meeting to submit a written statement. Any
34 such written statement submitted before the beginning of the meeting shall be pr ovided
35 to the governing body and made available to all individuals attending such meeting and
36 to the public upon req uest unless such written statement violates the policies or rules
37 established for the public comment period.
38 3. If it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four hours' notice, or if
39 the meeting will be conducted exclusively electr onically , or at a time that is not
40 r easonably convenient to the public, the nature of the good cause justifying that
41 departur e fr om the normal req uirements shall be stated in the minutes. Meetings held
42 in person and not otherwise subject to being closed under section 610.021 shall be
43 conducted in a manner that allows physical in-person public attendance.
✔
HB 1720 2