What is the Texas Open Meetings Act?
The Open Meetings Act represents an attempt by the Texas Legislature to increase transparency in government by requiring state and local governmental bodies to both open their meetings to the public and also keep records of those meetings, which become public record. The general rule, laid out in Section 551.002 of the Texas Government Code, provides that "Every regular, special, or called meeting of a governmental body shall be open to the public, except as provided by this chapter." Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.002. Furthermore, Section 551.021 provides that "A governmental body shall prepare and keep minutes or make a tape recording of each open meeting of the body." Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.021. Specifically, Section 551.021 requires that the minutes kept by a governmental body must state the subject of each deliberation and provide a record of each vote, order, decision, or action taken. Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.021. In addition to the minutes that the governmental body itself is required to keep, the Act allows a person in attendance at such a meeting to keep their own record of the meeting with a video or audio recording device. Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.023.
The Act is not all-inclusive - it carves out several exceptions in which a closed meeting may be held. For instance, closed meetings are permitted to ponder the purchase, lease, exchange, or value of real property if holding an open meeting on such deliberations would adversely effect the position of the governmental body in negotiations. Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.072. Closed meetings are also permitted, under certain circumstances, by the commissioners' courts of counties with populations of 400,000 or more, provided that the meetings are to "deliberate business and financial issues relating to a contract being negotiated." Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.0725.
The Open Meetings Act has great impact on administrative law, because most if not all administrative agencies are governmental bodies subject to the Act's provisions. This means, for instance, that if the Nursing Board or the Board of Pharmacy meets to deliberate changes to the regulations governing the licensing of nurses or pharmacists, they are required to open those meetings to the public, and provide records of how the various members of the board in question voted on the proposed changes. This makes it easier for administrative lawyers to ascertain the legislative history behind such changes, which in turn simplifies the job of making their arguments to judges. It provides lawyers with knowledge of how board members voted, giving valuable insight should such lawyers wish to undertake lobbying efforts for further changes. It provides medical practitioners with greater access to and notice of the substance of changes and proposed changes to the Texas Administrative Code that might affect their practice. In short, it simplifies the work of both medical practitioners and attorneys. Furthermore, when a Board meets to impose discipline on a licensee, the meeting must comply with the Open Meetings Act. Otherwise, any discipline imposed on the licensee is voidable, pursuant to Section 551.141 of the Act. Tex. Gov. Code, § 551.141.
