HBA-JLV, SEP H.B. 1021 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1021 By: Clark State Affairs 2/14/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law allows a governmental body to consult with its attorney in an open meeting or in a closed meeting when the governmental body seeks the advice of its attorney about litigation or settlement offers. Rural governmental bodies that do not have an attorney on staff must rely on outside counsel often paid on an hourly basis. The sometimes high attorney fees as well as the travel time may encourage these rural governmental bodies to make decisions without legal advice. House Bill 1021 authorizes a governmental body to use a telephone conference call, video conference call, or communications over the Internet in a consultation with an attorney. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1021 amends the Government Code to authorize a governmental body to use a telephone conference call, video conference call, or communications over the Internet (conference call) to conduct a public consultation with its attorney in an open meeting or a private consultation in a closed meeting, provided the attorney is not an employee of the governmental body. In an open meeting, each part of a public consultation must be audible to the public at the location specified in the meeting notice. The bill does not authorize the members of a governmental body to conduct a meeting by conference call. The bill also does not create an exception to the application of existing law regarding the use of a conference call by certain governmental entities when conducting a meeting. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.