Question
The Board of Directors are constantly postponing regular meetings to accommodate a board member’s busy schedule. They have not set up a calendar for the year with a consistent time or day of week, for example, every second Thursday at 4:00 pm. This month, they have not scheduled a regular meeting due to waiting on a board member’s ability to find an open day to attend. I’m looking for more detailed language of the requirement to adopt a regular meeting calendar for the school year and that it cannot be changed. Thank you.
Answer
The Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, contains a provision requiring legislative bodies to “provide, by ordinance, resolution, bylaws, or by whatever other rule is required for the conduct of business by that body, the time and place for holding regular meetings.” Gov’t Code § 54954(a). Thus, the board here should have some kind of written rule as to when regular meetings will be held. You might want to start with
the board’s bylaws to see what they say about meetings, and if you cannot find your answer there, see whether the board has passed any resolution or ordinance to this effect. If not, it may be the board is in violation of the Brown Act on this front.
Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.