By:  Hegar                                                        H.B. No. 2381


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to posting on the Internet the notice of a meeting of the governing body of a county and certain districts and political subdivisions. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 551.043, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 551.043. TIME AND ACCESSIBILITY OF NOTICE; GENERAL RULE. (a) 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, except as provided by Sections 551.044-551.046. (b) If this chapter specifically requires or allows a governmental body to post notice of a meeting on the Internet: (1) the governmental body satisfies the requirement that the notice must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times by making a good-faith attempt to continuously post the notice on the Internet during the prescribed period; (2) the governmental body must still comply with any duty imposed by this chapter to physically post the notice at a particular location; and (3) if the governmental body makes a good-faith attempt to continuously post the notice on the Internet during the prescribed period, the notice physically posted at the location prescribed by this chapter must be readily accessible to the general public during normal business hours. SECTION 2. Section 551.049, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 551.049. COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL BODY: PLACE OF POSTING NOTICE. A county governmental body: (1) shall post notice of each meeting on a bulletin board at a place convenient to the public in the county courthouse; and (2) may post notice of each meeting on the county's official Internet website. SECTION 3. Section 551.053, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 551.053. DISTRICT OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION EXTENDING INTO FOUR OR MORE COUNTIES: NOTICE TO PUBLIC, SECRETARY OF STATE, AND COUNTY CLERK; PLACE OF POSTING NOTICE. (a) The governing body of a water district or other district or political subdivision that extends into four or more counties [shall]: (1) shall post notice of each meeting at a place convenient to the public in the administrative office of the district or political subdivision; (2) may post notice of each meeting on the official Internet website of the district or political subdivision; (3) shall provide notice of each meeting to the secretary of state; and (4) shall [(3)] provide notice of each meeting to the county clerk of the county in which the administrative office of the district or political subdivision is located. (b) The secretary of state shall post the notice provided under Subsection (a)(3) [(a)(2)] on the Internet. The secretary of state shall provide during regular office hours a computer terminal at a place convenient to the public in the office of the secretary of state that members of the public may use to view the notice. (c) A county clerk: (1) shall post the notice provided under Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(3)] on a bulletin board at a place convenient to the public in the county courthouse; and (2) may post each notice provided under Subsection (a)(4) on the county's official Internet website. SECTION 4. Section 551.054, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 551.054. DISTRICT OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION EXTENDING INTO FEWER THAN FOUR COUNTIES: NOTICE TO PUBLIC AND COUNTY CLERKS; PLACE OF POSTING NOTICE. (a) The governing body of a water district or other district or political subdivision that extends into fewer than four counties [shall]: (1) shall post notice of each meeting at a place convenient to the public in the administrative office of the district or political subdivision; (2) may post notice of each meeting on the official Internet website of the district or political subdivision; and (3) shall [(2)] provide notice of each meeting to the county clerk of each county in which the district or political subdivision is located. (b) A county clerk: (1) shall post the notice provided under Subsection (a)(3) [(a)(2)] on a bulletin board at a place convenient to the public in the county courthouse; and (2) may post each notice provided under Subsection (a)(3) on the county's official Internet website. SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.