A bill filed Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, and Rep. Dave Wright, R-Corryton in Knox County, would allow members of county and municipal governing bodies to attend meetings electronically in some circumstances.
Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, has filed a bill to allow members of county and city legislative bodies to attend meetings electronically in some circumstances, including when they are dealing with a family or medical emergency and during inclement weather.
The bill is a revival of a bill that the pair sponsored in 2021 as governing bodies were coming out of all-electronic meetings because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new bill differs in some respects from their 2021 effort, which failed in a House committee.
Members dealing with family or medical issues could attend electronically
The bill (SB 294 / HB 389) would allow members of county and municipal legislative bodies to attend scheduled meetings by electronic means including, but not limited to, videoconferencing or other web-based media when:
- The member is “dealing with a family or medical emergency as determined” by the governing body;
- The member “has been called into military service;” or
- The member “is unable to attend in person due to inclement weather.”
The member who is attending by electronic means must be able to be “visually identified” by the chairperson. No more than 20 percent of the total membership of the legislative body, not to exceed three members, may participate electronically.
For example, 11 members serve on the Knox County Commission, so no more than 2 members could attend remotely through a videoconference at any given meeting.
Also, a physical quorum of the governing body must be present at the physical location. And a member can only participate electronically two times per year.
Governing body must provide live audio or video for public
Rep. Dave Wright, who represents a portion of Knox County, is sponsoring a bill that would allow local governing bodies to meet electronically when they are dealing with a family or medical emergency.
The bill provides that any meeting conducted by electronic means must “remain open and accessible to the public by providing real-time, live audio or video access to the public.”
“A clear audio or video recording of the meeting must be made available to the public as soon as practicable following the meeting, an in no event more than two (2) business days after the meeting.”
The bill also says the public notice of the meeting shall provide information about how the public can obtain real-time access to or a broadcast of the meeting.
And the bill says that a “legislative body is strongly urged to provide an agenda for the meeting in (the public) notice” of the meeting.
However, the bill stops short of requiring the agenda of a meeting be made available to the public.
Similar electronic meetings bill failed in 2021
In 2021, TCOG opposed a similar bill by the same lawmakers, concerned that the language was too loose and would lead to some members of legislative bodies exploiting the ability to attend electronically to avoid constituents who came to the meeting. TCOG raised questions about the uneven experience of electronic meetings from the public’s perspective during the pandemic, the difficulty for the public to follow along meetings in which some participants were joining by phone, and the slippery slope of normalizing meeting electronically instead of in person in front of constituents. TCOG also was specifically concerned about reducing citizen access to representatives and weakening public hearings and public comment periods.
The bill was among several offered in 2021 by lawmakers who were responding to local governing bodies who found meeting electronically, such as by Zoom, convenient during the height of the pandemic.
Ultimately, however, while the bill passed a Senate committee and headed to the Senate floor, it failed in a House committee.
Briggs is the chair of the Senate State and Local Committee and Wright is vice-chair of the Local Government Committee. Both are former county commissioners in Knox County.
