An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Records of Public Proceedings

Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §403,  as amended by PL 2009, c. 240, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

§ 403.  Meetings to be open to public; record of meetings

summary

This bill is a recommendation of a majority of the Right To Know Advisory Committee as described in its 4th annual report.

This bill requires that a record of all public proceedings for which notice is required under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 406 must be made within a reasonable period of time after the proceeding. The record is a public record and must be open to public inspection. At a minimum, the record must include: the date, time and place of the public proceeding; the members of the body recorded as either present or absent; the general substance of all matters proposed, discussed or decided; and all motions and votes taken, by individual member if there is a roll call. An audio, video or other electronic recording of a public proceeding is sufficient.

This bill is not intended to change current practices of public bodies that are regularly keeping a record or minutes, but to require that a minimum record of meetings must be kept for those bodies that do not already do so.