Public Chapter No. 300 took effect on July 1, 2023. Public Chapter No. 300 requires governing bodies to provide a period of public comment at public meetings as follows:

(a) A governing body shall, for each public meeting, reserve a period for public comment to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on matters that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting.
(b) The governing body may put reasonable restrictions on the period for public comment, such as the length of the period, the number of speakers, and the length of time that each speaker will be allowed to provide comment. The governing body may require a person to give advance notice of the desire to offer comments at a meeting. The governing body shall take all practicable steps to ensure that opposing viewpoints are represented fairly, if any.
(c) A notice for a public meeting shall indicate the manner in which a person may indicate the person's desire to provide public comment at the meeting.

To view our Public Comment Policy click here (PDF)