1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to meetings of governmental bodies; 
  1.3             authorizing meetings by electronic means if certain 
  1.4             criteria are met; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.5             sections 3.055, by adding a subdivision; and 471.705, 
  1.6             subdivision 1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 3.055, is 
  1.9   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 1a.  [MEETINGS BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.] A meeting 
  1.11  governed by this section may be conducted by electronic means so 
  1.12  long as: 
  1.13     (1) all members of the body participating in the meeting, 
  1.14  wherever their physical location, can hear one another and can 
  1.15  hear all discussion and testimony presented at any location at 
  1.16  which at least one member is present; and 
  1.17     (2) members of the public present at the meeting, in any 
  1.18  location where a member of the body is present, can hear all 
  1.19  discussion and testimony and all votes of members of the body. 
  1.20     Each member of a body participating in a meeting by 
  1.21  electronic means is considered present at the meeting for 
  1.22  purposes of determining a quorum. 
  1.23     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 471.705, 
  1.24  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.25     Subdivision 1.  [PRESUMPTION OF OPENNESS.] (a) Except as 
  1.26  otherwise expressly provided by statute, all meetings, including 
  2.1   executive sessions, of any a state agency, board, commission, or 
  2.2   department, when required or permitted by law to transact public 
  2.3   business in a meeting, and the governing body of any a school 
  2.4   district however organized, unorganized territory, 
  2.5   county, statutory or home rule city, town, or other public body, 
  2.6   and of any committee, subcommittee, board, department, or 
  2.7   commission thereof, shall of a public body, must be open to the 
  2.8   public, except meetings of the commissioner of corrections.  The 
  2.9   votes of the members of such the state agency, board, 
  2.10  commission, or department or of such the governing body, 
  2.11  committee, subcommittee, board, department, or commission on any 
  2.12  an action taken in a meeting herein required by this subdivision 
  2.13  to be open to the public shall must be recorded in a journal 
  2.14  kept for that purpose, and the journal shall must be open to the 
  2.15  public during all normal business hours where such records of 
  2.16  the public body are kept.  The vote of each member shall must be 
  2.17  recorded on each appropriation of money, except for payments of 
  2.18  judgments, claims, and amounts fixed by statute.  This section 
  2.19  shall does not apply to any a state agency, board, or commission 
  2.20  when it is exercising quasi-judicial functions involving 
  2.21  disciplinary proceedings. 
  2.22     (b) A meeting governed by this subdivision may be conducted 
  2.23  by electronic means so long as: 
  2.24     (1) all members of the body participating in the meeting, 
  2.25  wherever their physical location, can hear one another and can 
  2.26  hear all discussion and testimony presented at any location at 
  2.27  which at least one member is present; and 
  2.28     (2) members of the public present at the meeting, in any 
  2.29  location at which a member of the body is present, can hear all 
  2.30  discussion and testimony and all votes of members of the body. 
  2.31     (c) Each member of a body participating in a meeting by 
  2.32  electronic means is considered present at the meeting for 
  2.33  purposes of determining a quorum.