BILL ANALYSIS |
S.B. 1640 |
By: Watson |
State Affairs |
Committee Report (Unamended) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
In light of a recent court of criminal appeals ruling that the Government Code offense of conspiracy to circumvent open meetings law, which seeks to prohibit what is commonly referred to as a "walking quorum," is unconstitutionally vague, it has been suggested that clarification, for enforcement purposes, is in order. S.B. 1640 seeks to provide that clarity.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
S.B. 1640 amends the Government Code to revise the conduct constituting the offense of conspiring to circumvent state open meetings law to make it an offense for a member of a governmental body to knowingly engage in at least one communication among a series of communications that each occur outside of an authorized open meeting concerning an issue within the jurisdiction of the governmental body in which individual communications constitute fewer than a quorum of members and that the member knew at the time involved or would involve a quorum and would constitute a deliberation once a quorum of members engaged in the series of communications.
S.B. 1640 revises the conduct that constitutes deliberation to reflect a verbal or written exchange between a quorum of a governmental body, or between a quorum of a governmental body and another person, concerning an issue within the body's jurisdiction.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.
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