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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to requiring the board of directors and appraisal review |
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board of certain appraisal districts to make video and audio |
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recordings of open meetings available on the Internet. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 551, Government Code, is |
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amended by adding Section 551.1284 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 551.1284. APPRAISAL DISTRICT: INTERNET POSTING OF OPEN |
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MEETING. (a) This section applies only to an appraisal district in |
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a county with a population of less than 120,000. |
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(b) An appraisal district shall: |
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(1) make a video and audio recording of reasonable |
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quality of each: |
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(A) regularly scheduled open meeting of the |
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district's board of directors that is not a work session or a |
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special called meeting; |
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(B) regularly scheduled open meeting of the |
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district's appraisal review board that is not a work session or a |
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special called meeting; and |
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(C) hearing or proceeding of the district's |
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appraisal review board that is open to the public, including |
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individual property tax protest hearings; and |
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(2) make available an archived copy of the video and |
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audio recording of each meeting, hearing, or proceeding described |
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by Subdivision (1) on the Internet. |
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(c) An appraisal district may make available the archived |
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recordings required by Subsection (b) on an existing Internet |
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website, including a publicly accessible video-sharing or social |
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networking site. The appraisal district is not required to |
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establish a separate Internet website and provide access to |
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archived recordings of meetings from that site. |
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(d) An appraisal district that maintains an Internet |
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website shall make available on that site, in a conspicuous manner: |
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(1) the archived recordings required by Subsection |
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(b); or |
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(2) an accessible link to those archived recordings. |
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(e) An appraisal district shall: |
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(1) make the archived recordings required by |
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Subsection (b) available on the Internet not later than the seventh |
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day after the date the recording was made; and |
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(2) maintain the archived recordings on the Internet |
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until at least the second anniversary of the date the recording was |
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first made available. |
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SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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an open meeting held on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
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open meeting that is held before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date of the open meeting, and |
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the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2027. |