The Oregon legislature has implemented various changes to the Public Meetings Law (PML) over the last several years, and implementing those changes can oftentimes be difficult for our clients to navigate. For example, HB 2560 (2021) implemented the requirement that local governments allow for telephonic and/or virtual attendance and participation at all their public meetings. More significantly, however, were the changes implemented by HB 2805 (2023), which not only changed the definition of “convening,” but also established a mandatory grievance process for any individual believing a governing body has violated the PML. Governing bodies are now legally obligated to both process public grievances in a specified manner and to also to post their grievance information on their website. HB 2805 also expanded the Oregon Government Ethics Commission’s (OGEC) oversight authority and mandated training for governing bodies with annual expenditures greater than $1M.
 
In order to assist you as you implement the various requirements of the laws – both old and new – we drafted a quick and simple checklist for you to utilize to help you better track your compliance with all public meetings statutes and administrative rules. The checklist can be found here.
 
Please feel free to share the checklist with members of your governing bodies and any staff members that plan or organize public meetings on their behalf. If you have any questions about the PML, or if you have a public meetings issue or concern, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office.