HBA-JLV, SEP H.B. 1021 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1021
By: Clark
State Affairs
2/14/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law allows a governmental body to consult with its attorney in an
open meeting or in a closed meeting when the governmental body seeks the
advice of its attorney about litigation or settlement offers. Rural
governmental bodies that do not have an attorney on staff must rely on
outside counsel often paid on an hourly basis.  The sometimes high attorney
fees as well as the travel time may encourage these rural governmental
bodies to make decisions without legal advice.   House Bill 1021 authorizes
a governmental body to use a telephone conference call, video conference
call, or communications over the Internet in a consultation with an
attorney. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1021 amends the Government Code to authorize a governmental body
to use a telephone conference call, video conference call, or
communications over the Internet (conference call) to conduct a public
consultation with its attorney in an open meeting or a private consultation
in a closed meeting, provided the attorney is not an employee of the
governmental body.  In an open meeting, each part of a public consultation
must be audible to the public at the location specified in the meeting
notice.  The bill does not authorize the members of a governmental body to
conduct a meeting by conference call.  The bill also does not create an
exception to the application of  existing law regarding the use of a
conference call by certain governmental entities when conducting a meeting.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.