South Carolina General Assembly
121st Session, 2015-2016

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H. 3192

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Newton, Cole, Anderson, Bales, G.A. Brown, R.L. Brown, Finlay, Felder, Funderburk, Hart, Knight, Lucas, Murphy, Norman, Norrell, Pope, Putnam, Rivers, Southard, Spires, Tallon, Taylor, Wells, Williams, Willis, Long, Douglas, Henderson, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, McCoy, Clary, M.S. McLeod and Thayer
Document Path: l:\council\bills\agm\18295ab15.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 11

Introduced in the House on January 13, 2015
Introduced in the Senate on February 18, 2015
Last Amended on February 17, 2015
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Notice of meetings for public bodies

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  12/18/2014  House   Prefiled
  12/18/2014  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary
   1/13/2015  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 143)
   1/13/2015  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 143)
   1/21/2015  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Thayer
   2/11/2015  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 60)
   2/17/2015  House   Amended (House Journal-page 9)
   2/17/2015  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 9)
   2/17/2015  House   Roll call Yeas-109  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 13)
   2/18/2015  House   Read third time and sent to Senate 
                        (House Journal-page 10)
   2/18/2015  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 7)
   2/18/2015  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 7)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/18/2014
2/11/2015
2/17/2015

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

AMENDED

February 17, 2015

H. 3192

Introduced by Reps. Newton, Cole, Anderson, Bales, G.A. Brown, R.L. Brown, Finlay, Felder, Funderburk, Hart, Knight, Lucas, Murphy, Norman, Norrell, Pope, Putnam, Rivers, Southard, Spires, Tallon, Taylor, Wells, Williams, Willis, Long, Douglas, Henderson, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, McCoy, Clary, M.S. McLeod and Thayer

S. Printed 2/17/15--H.

Read the first time January 13, 2015.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 30-4-80, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIREMENTS OF PUBLIC MEETINGS, SO AS TO REQUIRE AN AGENDA FOR THE MEETINGS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH ITEMS MAY BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 30-4-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 30-40-80.(a)    All public bodies, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, must give written public notice of their regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar year. The notice must include the dates, times, and places of such meetings. Agenda, if any, for regularly scheduled or special meetings must be posted on a bulletin board in a publicly accessible place at the office or meeting place of the public body and on a public website maintained by the public body, if any, at least twenty-four hours prior to such meetings. All public bodies must post on such bulletin board and website, if any, public notice for any called, special, or rescheduled meetings. Such notice must be posted as early as is practicable but not later than twenty-four hours before the meeting. Once an agenda for a regular, called, special, or rescheduled meeting is posted pursuant to this subsection, no items may be added to the agenda without an additional twenty-four hours notice to the public, which must be made in the same manner as the original posting. After the meeting begins, an item, upon which action can be taken, only may be added to the agenda by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting, who must make a finding that an emergency exists if the item is not added to the agenda. The notice must include the agenda, date, time, and place of the meeting. This requirement does not apply to emergency meetings of public bodies.

(b)    Legislative committees must post their meeting times during weeks of the regular session of the General Assembly and must comply with the provisions for notice of special meetings during those weeks when the General Assembly is not in session. Once an agenda for a legislative committee is posted pursuant to this subsection, no items may be added to the agenda without an additional twenty-four hours notice to the public, which must be made in the same manner as the original notice. Subcommittees of standing legislative committees must give notice during weeks of the legislative session only if it is practicable to do so.

(c)    Subcommittees, other than legislative subcommittees, of committees required to give notice under subsection (a), must make reasonable and timely efforts to give notice of their meetings.

(d)    Written public notice must include but need not be limited to posting a copy of the notice at the principal office of the public body holding the meeting or, if no such office exists, at the building in which the meeting is to be held.

(e)    All public bodies shall notify persons or organizations, local news media, or such other news media as may request notification of the times, dates, places, and agenda of all public meetings, whether scheduled, rescheduled, or called, and the efforts made to comply with this requirement must be noted in the minutes of the meetings."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on February 20, 2015 at 2:31 PM