PROCESSES AND REMEDIES FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY LAW VIOLATIONS: PART III. THE BROWN ACT, OPEN MEETINGS LAW, AND PUBLIC RECORDS ACT

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1®1® BEST BEST & KRIEGER ATTORNEYS AT LAW. MEMORANDUM To: PUBLIC AGENCY CLIENTS From: BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP Date: MAY 23, 2018 Re: PROCESSES AND REMEDIES FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY LAW VIOLATIONS: PART III. THE BROWN ACT, OPEN MEETINGS LAW, AND PUBLIC RECORDS ACT INTRODUCTION Parts I and II of this series addressed the processes and remedies for violations of the state's financial conflict of interest laws, the Political Reform Act and Government Code section 1090, respectively. This is Part III and discusses the processes and remedies for violations of the state's transparency laws, the Brown Act, Open Meetings Law, and the Public Records Act. As with the conflicts laws, there may be more than one process available and multiple "remedies" or penalties might apply in the case of a single violation of the law. The aim is to inform the reader where complaints can be lodged, how they are handled and what remedies might result. BROWN ACT, OPEN MEETINGS LAW (Gov. CODE § 54950 ET SEQ.) The Brown Act contains a host of provisions regarding the conduct of meetings of local agencies to ensure transparency and accountability in the conduct of the public's business; some of these requirements are quite technical. This often leads to minor, but nonetheless actionable, violations of the Act. More serious violations often relate to taking up non-agendized items, so-called "serial meetings," where members of a legislative body discuss and consider official business outside a noticed public meeting, misuse or abuse of the "closed session" process, and the leaking of closed session information. The law does provide a means for an agency to "cure and correct" past violations. (Gov. Code §§ 54960.1(a); 54960.2.) That said, acts of a legislative body in This product provided under the Public Policy & Ethics Group Program 93939.0020E\31067641.1 -1-