The bill amends the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, specifically 25 O.S. 2021, Section 311, to enhance public participation in meetings held by public bodies. It requires these bodies to provide a reasonable opportunity for public comment on each agenda item before any official action is taken. The bill allows public bodies to establish written rules governing the time, manner, and order of public comments, including the ability to limit the duration of individual comments and total comment time for each agenda item. Additionally, it stipulates that commenters may need to sign up prior to the item being discussed, ensuring that such limitations are applied uniformly and are conducive to the efficient conduct of the meeting.

The bill also updates statutory language and references, including changing the term "areawide" to "area-wide" and revising the section numbers for clarity. It mandates that public bodies give advance notice of meetings and maintain a record of such notices for public inspection. The effective date for these changes is set for November 1, 2026.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 25-311