<P>INTRODUCTION The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (the Act or the Bagley-Keene Act), set forth in Government Code sections 11120-111321, covers all state boards and commissions. Generally, it requires these bodies to publicly notice their meetings, prepare agendas, accept public testimony and conduct their meetings in public unless specifically authorized by the Act to meet in closed session. Following is a brief summary of the Acts major provisions. Although we believe that this summary is a helpful road map, it is no substitute for consulting the actual language of the Act and the court cases and administrative opinions that interpret it. If you wish to obtain additional copies of this pamphlet, they may be ordered or downloaded via the Attorney Generals Home Page, located on the World Wide Web at http://caag.state.ca.us. You may also write to the Attorney Generals Office, Public Inquiry Unit, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 or call us at (800) 952-5225 (for callers within California), or (916) 322-3360 (for callers outside of California); the TTY/TDD telephone numbers are (800) 952-5548 (for callers within California), or (916) 324-5564 (for callers outside of California). PURPOSE OF THE ACT Operating under the requirements of the Act can sometimes be frustrating for both board members and staff. This results from the lack of efficiency built into the Act and the unnatural communication patterns brought about by compliance with its rules. If efficiency were the top priority, the Legislature would create a department and then permit the department head to make decisions. However, when the Legislature creates a multimember board, it makes a different value judgment. Rather than striving strictly for efficiency, it concludes that there is a higher value to having a group of individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds and viewpoints come together to develop a consensus. Consensus is developed through debate, deliberation and give and take. This process can sometimes take a long time and is very different in character than the individual-decision-maker model. Although some individual decision-makers follow a consensus-building model in the way that they make decisions, theyre not required to do so. When the Legislature creates a multimember body, it is mandating that the government go through this consensus building process. When the Legislature enacted the Bagley-Keene Act, it imposed still another value judgment on the governmental process. In effect, the Legislature said that when a body sits down to develop its consensus, there needs to be a seat at the table reserved for the public. (ยง 11120.) By reserving this place for the public, the Legislature has provided the public with the ability to monitor and participate in the decision-making process. If the body were permitted to meet in secret, the publics role in the decision-making process would be negated. Therefore, absent a specific reason to keep 1All statutory references are to the Government Code. 2 </p> <UL><LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/1/1/">Page-1</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/2/2/">Page-2</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/3/3/">Page-3</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/4/4/">Page-4</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/5/5/">Page-5</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/6/6/">Page-6</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/7/7/">Page-7</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/8/8/">Page-8</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/9/9/">Page-9</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/10/10/">Page-10</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/11/11/">Page-11</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/12/12/">Page-12</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/13/13/">Page-13</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/14/14/">Page-14</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/15/15/">Page-15</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publication/30/zzistbmxh/16/16/">Page-16</a></LI> <LI><a href="http://www.stallionpublishers.com/publications/30/x/sitemap.xml" target="_blank">site map</a></LI> </UL>

 

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