Bill would allow open meetings on public websites

Measure intended to bring technology to official business.

Seeking to adapt the Texas Open Meetings Act to the electronic age, Austin Sen. Kirk Watson filed legislation Thursday allowing government officials to discuss public business outside of meet- ings — as long as it’s on a website that the public can view.

Likening the site to an electronic bulletin board that the public may read but not post to, Watson said the initiative would let government officials freely exchange information, arriving at decisions quicker and more efficiently, all without violating the Open Meetings Act.

Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican whose office enforces open meetings laws, said the bill by Watson, a Democrat, would let officials “operate at the speed of technology” while preserving transparency.

The Open Meetings Act prohibits a quorum of public officials from discussing most government business in private.

Violators can receive up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

The advent of Twitter and Facebook has raised serious questions about whether officials are breaking the law by posting information that can be read by other members of a governmental body.

Watson’s Senate Bill 1297 would remove that concern, Abbott said during a joint news conference at the Capitol.

“Right now, if members of a governmental body try communicating with each other through email, texting or tweeting between meetings, they are subject to an open meetings violation that has real penalties,” Abbott said.

Governments would not be required to create a public bulletin board.

Those that do, however, must display the site prominently on their Internet home page and have only one message board so people “are not hunting around trying find it,” Abbott said.

Posts also would have to remain on the site for at least 30 days, and all posts must be electronically archived for at least two years.

No votes or official action could be taken via the message board, Watson said.