The General Assembly made two major changes to the Open Meetings Act this year. One new law requires that county and city legislative bodies provide an agenda 48 hours in advance of the meeting. The agenda must "reasonably describe" each agenda item. The other requires all governing bodies set aside a period for public comment, allowing citizens to speak about items on the agenda.
The bill would require governing bodies to set aside a time for public comment at all governing body meetings except those in which there are no actionable items on the agenda and those in which the governing body is conducting a disciplinary hearing. The bill also allows a governing body to set time limits and require the person to give advance notice of their wish to speak.
Public comment periods would be required at governing body meetings under a bill filed by Knoxville state representative Elaine Davis and Calhoun senator Adam Lowe. The bill allows governing body members to set rules around public comment periods, such as limiting the amount of time of the period and the amount of time of each speaker. The bill requires a public comment period for citizens to comment on items "that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting."
Governing bodies such as school boards and county commissions should be careful about their rules on public comment. They may regulate the public comment period to protect the safety and the orderly flow of a meeting. But barring someone just because they are critical or express antagonistic views violates free speech rights and is repressive.
A citizen cannot be thrown out of a public meeting simply because he or she offends, antagonizes or harshly criticizes a governing body or members of a governing body during public comment period, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said this month.
