HB-5459, As Passed House, May 2, 2012
SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5459
A bill to amend 1976 PA 267, entitled
"Open meetings act,"
by amending section 5 (MCL 15.265), as amended by 1984 PA 167.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 5. (1) A meeting of a public body shall not be held
unless public notice is given as provided in this section by a
person designated by the public body.
(2) For regular meetings of a public body, there shall be
posted within 10 days after the first meeting of the public body in
each calendar or fiscal year a public notice stating the dates,
times, and places of its regular meetings.
(3) If there is a change in the schedule of regular meetings
of a public body, there shall be posted within 3 days after the
meeting at which the change is made, a public notice stating the
new dates, times, and places of its regular meetings.
(4) Except as provided in this subsection or in subsection
(6), for a rescheduled regular or a special meeting of a public
body, a public notice stating the date, time, and place of the
meeting shall be posted at least 18 hours before the meeting in a
prominent and conspicuous place at both the public body's principal
office and, if the public body directly or indirectly maintains an
official internet presence that includes monthly or more frequent
updates of public meeting agendas or minutes, on a portion of the
website that is fully accessible to the public. The public notice
on the website shall be included on either the homepage or on a
separate webpage dedicated to public notices for nonregularly
scheduled public meetings and accessible via a prominent and
conspicuous link on the website's homepage that clearly describes
its purpose for public notification of those nonregularly scheduled
public
meetings. The requirement of 18-hour
notice shall does not
apply to special meetings of subcommittees of a public body or
conference committees of the state legislature. A conference
committee shall give a 6-hour notice. A second conference committee
shall give a 1-hour notice. Notice of a conference committee
meeting shall include written notice to each member of the
conference committee and the majority and minority leader of each
house
indicating time and place of the meeting. This subsection
does
not apply to a public meeting held pursuant to section 4(2) to
(5)
of Act No. 239 of the Public Acts of 1955, as amended, being
section
200.304 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
(5)
A meeting of a public body which that is recessed for more
than
36 hours shall be reconvened only after public notice ,
which
that
is equivalent to that required under
subsection (4) , has
been
posted. If either house of the state legislature is adjourned or
recessed for less than 18 hours, the notice provisions of
subsection
(4) are not applicable. Nothing in this section shall
bar
bars a public body from meeting in emergency session in
the
event of a severe and imminent threat to the health, safety, or
welfare of the public when 2/3 of the members serving on the body
decide that delay would be detrimental to efforts to lessen or
respond to the threat. However, if a public body holds an emergency
public meeting that does not comply with the 18-hour posted notice
requirement, it shall make paper copies of the public notice for
the emergency meeting available to the public at that meeting. The
notice shall include an explanation of the reasons that the public
body cannot comply with the 18-hour posted notice requirement. The
explanation shall be specific to the circumstances that
necessitated the emergency public meeting, and the use of
generalized explanations such as "an imminent threat to the health
of the public" or "a danger to public welfare and safety" does not
meet the explanation requirements of this subsection. If the public
body directly or indirectly maintains an official internet presence
that includes monthly or more frequent updates of public meeting
agendas or minutes, it shall post the public notice of the
emergency meeting and its explanation on its website in the manner
described for an internet posting in subsection (4). Within 48
hours after the emergency public meeting, the public body shall
send official correspondence to the board of county commissioners
of the county in which the public body is principally located,
informing the commission that an emergency public meeting with less
than 18 hours' public notice has taken place. The correspondence
shall also include the public notice of the meeting with
explanation and shall be sent by either the United States postal
service or electronic mail. Compliance with the notice requirements
for emergency meetings in this subsection does not create, and
shall not be construed to create, a legal basis or defense for
failure to comply with other provisions of this act and does not
relieve the public body from the duty to comply with any provision
of this act.
(6) A meeting of a public body may only take place in a
residential dwelling if a nonresidential building within the
boundary of the local governmental unit or school system is not
available without cost to the public body. For a meeting of a
public
body which that is held in a residential dwelling, notice of
the meeting shall be published as a display advertisement in a
newspaper of general circulation in the city or township in which
the meeting is to be held. The notice shall be published not less
than 2 days before the day on which the meeting is held, and shall
state
the date, time, and place of the meeting. The notice ,
which
shall
be at the bottom of the display advertisement, and which
shall
be set off in a conspicuous manner,
shall and include the
following language: "This meeting is open to all members of the
public under Michigan's open meetings act".
(7) A durational requirement for posting a public notice of a
meeting under this act is the time that the notice is required to
be accessible to the public.