State Senate study examines potential modernization of Open Meeting Act

Senate study examines potential modernization of Open Meeting Act OKLAHOMA CITY – An interim study held Wednesday in the Oklahoma Senate examined the potential to make permanent changes that the Oklahoma Legislature made earlier this year to the state’s open meeting law that allowed agencies, boards and commissions at the state and local level to meet and hold public meetings virtually, in accordance with health and safety guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, requested the study saying he thinks the temporary changes have been mostly successful and that making them permanent may be worthwhile to ensure state laws accommodate the use of new technology. The changes to the Open Meeting Act expire Nov. 15. “I think the changes the Legislature made to the Open Meeting Act were successful on two fronts,” Treat said. “The changes allowed government at state and local levels to continue to meet publicly and do their jobs while still following coronavirus-related health and safety protocols. The changes also brought public meetings online increasing transparency of government at the state and local level by giving the public even more access to observe the actions of public bodies.” Read more » by Jamison Faught - September 25, 2020 at 03:35PM

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