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Handbooks

California Brown Act Primer

The Ralph M. Brown Act, one of California’s main sunshine laws, is intended to provide public access to meetings of local government agencies.

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This primer was last updated March 2022 by Legal Fellow Monica Price, with contributions from Executive Director David Snyder and Legal Director David Loy. It was created in 2006 by James Chadwick, then of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. Please see this 2023 addendum for an overview of open-meetings law changes that occurred since this guide was published in March 2022.