March 8, 2012, Introduced by Rep. Opsommer and referred to the Committee on Oversight, Reform, and Ethics.
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. The
requirement of 18-hour notice shall 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
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, before a public body holds an
emergency public meeting that does not comply with the 18-hour
posted notice requirement of this section, the public body shall
notify the secretary of state of its intent. The notice to the
secretary of state shall be sent by electronic mail, facsimile, and
the United States postal service and shall include an explanation
of the reasons that the public body will not comply with the
requirement to give the public 18 hours of posted public notice of
the meeting. The public body shall make paper copies of the notice
that was sent to the secretary of state available to the public at
the meeting to which the notice applies. Notice to the secretary of
state does not create, and shall not be construed to create, a
legal basis or defense for failure to comply with provisions of
this act and does not relieve a public body from the duty to comply
with any provision in 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 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.