Brown Act Training and Presentation - October 18, 2023 Agenda Item 10 - Purpose, Application, Requirements, and Social Media Use

Sep 12, 2026

Brown Act Training and Presentation for the Citizens Advisory Committee outlines the law’s central goals of government transparency and meaningful public access, including narrowly construed exceptions and the requirement for public notice, open materials, and public participation. It explains how the Act applies to legislative bodies and specifically to the CAC, then details notice timing, open-meeting attendance rules, public comment limits, and prohibitions on serial meetings. It also covers social media permitted use, recent AB 361/557/2449 and SB 1100 amendments, and AB 2449 remote-meeting conditions, just cause, and limits.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Brown Act Training and Presentation

Purpose of the Brown Act

Application of the Act

Requirements of the Act

Use of Social Media

Recent Amendments to Brown Act

Board Meetings Pursuant to AB 2449

Just Cause and Emergency Circumstances

Participation Pursuant to AB 2449

JPB Remote Meeting Policy

Brown Act Training and Presentation Citizens Advisory Committee October 18, 2023 Agenda Item 10 Purpose of the Brown Act • The Act promotes: • Government transparency by: ensuring deliberations of local government are open and public; exceptions to right of access narrowly construed to promote meaningful access • Public Participation – Requires public notice of items to be considered, public access to materials, and preserves right of public to participate in decision making • Courts rely heavily upon these purposes when interpreting the Brown Act and determining if violations have occurred Application of the Act • Applies to all meetings of “legislative bodies” of local agencies • Brown Act bodies include the governing bodies, subsidiary bodies and any other body of a local agency created by charter, ordinance, resolution or formal action of a legislative body that is itself a legislative body, including committees • Specifically applies to the CAC per its authorizing resolution and Article III, Section 2 of its Bylaws Requirements of the Act • Notice for agenda posted in publicly accessible location 72 hours before a regular meeting; 24 hours before special meetings and one hour before emergency meetings • Open and public: all persons must be permitted to attend • Public has the right to address Committee via public comment with reasonable time limitations; cannot prohibit criticism but may prohibit personal attacks and disruptive comment • Prohibits serial meetings, i.e. , a majority of members of a legislative body outside of a lawful meeting may not directly or indirectly use a series of meetings to discuss, deliberate or take action on any item of business within the subject matter jurisdiction of the body Use of Social Media • May use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to engage in communications with the public regarding matters within CAC’s jurisdiction: • Answer questions • Provide information • Solicit information • Prohibited from using social media platforms to engage in communications with a majority of their colleagues regarding matters within CAC’s jurisdiction, including through the use of emojis • Members are prohibited from using social media platforms to: • Respond to a colleague’s post about matters within CAC’s jurisdiction • Share a communication posted by a colleague about matters within CAC’s jurisdiction Recent Amendments to Brown Act • Assembly Bill 361 (AB 361) allows members to participate in meetings remotely via teleconference without having to notice their location or provide public access during a declared state of emergency (sunset date of Jan 1, 2024); Assembly Bill 557 (AB 557) allows emergency meetings past this date • Assembly Bill 2449 (AB 2449) allows members to participate remotely in meetings for just cause or due to emergency circumstances for a limited number of meetings per year without having to notice their location or provide public access • Senate Bill 1100 (SB 1100) clarifies when a legislative body may permissibly remove disruptive individuals from meetings in order to allow the meeting to continue Board Meetings Pursuant to AB 2449 A member of a local legislative body may participate in a meeting remotely without having to identify the member’s location in the agenda or make the location accessible to the public if: 1) a quorum of members participate in person from a singular physical location 2) the singular location is clearly identified on the agenda, open to the public, and situated within the local agency’s jurisdiction; and 3) the member participating remotely has just cause or made a request to participate remotely based on emergency circumstances, which must be approved by the legislative body Just Cause and Emergency Circumstances • “Just cause” is defined as one or more of the following: (i) a childcare or caregiving need of a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling,

FAQs

What are the main purposes of the Brown Act?

The Brown Act promotes government transparency by ensuring open deliberations and narrowly construing exceptions. It also requires public notice and access to materials so the public can participate in decision-making.

Which meetings does the Brown Act apply to, and how does it apply to the CAC?

It applies to meetings of “legislative bodies” of local agencies, including governing bodies, subsidiary bodies, and other charter- or ordinance-created bodies that act as legislative bodies. It specifically applies to the CAC under its authorizing resolution and Article III, Section 2 of its bylaws.

What remote-meeting rules under AB 2449 allow participation without publicly providing the remote location?

A member may participate remotely without identifying the remote location in the agenda or making it accessible to the public only if a quorum participates in person from a single publicly identified location in the agency’s jurisdiction, and the remote request is based on just cause or emergency circumstances approved by the legislative body.

Sep 12, 2026

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