Currently, under the open meetings law, with certain exceptions, meetings of
state and local governmental bodies must be preceded by public notice, must be held
in places that are reasonably accessible to the public, and must be open to the public
at all times, although such meetings may convene in closed session for the purpose
of considering certain matters specified by law.

A public notice of a meeting of a governmental body must contain the time, date,
place, and subject matter of the meeting and must be given at least 24 hours before
the start of the meeting, although shorter notice, but never less than two hours, may
be given under limited circumstances. The notice must be given to news media that
have filed a request to receive such a notice and the notice must appear in the
governmental body's official newspaper or, if none exists, in a news medium likely
to give notice in the area.

Under this bill, a governmental body of a city, village, town, or county (political
subdivision), or school district, that has a Web site is required to post a public notice
of a meeting that is subject to the open meetings law on that political subdivision's
or school district's Web site and also must post any minutes of the meeting that relate
to business conducted during an open session of the meeting. The bill also allows a
town that could otherwise comply with current law notice requirements by posting

---

the notice in at least three places to meet the requirements by posting at the town
hall and one other public place if the notice is also posted on the town's Web site. The
bill defines "governmental body" to include any formally constituted subunit of the
governing body of a political subdivision or school district.